Lena
by The 21st Century Pendragon
Summary: Lena Lark is an 11-year-old hipster aspirant. She embraces the old school. She jams to 80's music. And she loves doodling. More importantly, she falls for her next door neighbor, Lincoln. But for Lincoln, this girl will change his life forever. Here's a spin-off from "The Other House".
1. Chapter 1

On a lowly night in Royal Woods, Lincoln is trying his best to focus on studying for his science recitation for the next day. He has his textbooks and other resource materials scattered on his room. He takes the information he obtains and places them on assorted color cards. But he has trouble understanding the periodic table of elements.

Though he tries his best to memorizing the elements and their corresponding chemical symbols, Lincoln suddenly gets disturbed from the commotion outside of his room. He opens the door to see his sisters making all sorts of ruckus along the halls, in usual Loud House fashion. Combustion bursts from Lisa's room, making her get covered in soot as she walks out of her room. Lola drives her kiddie cart around the halls, and is being chased by Lynn who dodges every commotion in parkour style. Luna and Lana play with lightsabers and proceed to go on full duel. Lucy tests her organ skills to Luna's synthesizer and improvises playing Danny Elfman's score of _Batman_. Luan is rehearing to Lily with sock puppets. And Lori and Leni shriek over Leni's texting with a boy she likes. All contribute to a whole lot of loudness in the Loud House.

Naturally, Lincoln finds this very frustrating on his need to focus studying. He shares his sentiments to the readers of this chapter, "Well, what can I say? I live in a house of ten sisters. Noise will always go by default. But why does it have to be this time?!" As the noise intensifies, Lincoln slams the door close and returns to his bed, setting a digital notebook on his lap. "Necessarily, I'd go to the least distracting areas of the house. But I don't want to end up in another setup that my sisters had in store, in case I ignore them completely. Might as well distract myself for a little while."

Lincoln then places the notebook on his lap and browses to his Twitter homepage. Out of response about the noise on his house, Lincoln posts: "Another Loud house noise session. Need moment to study. Anybody knows how?" He then follows up with a disclaimer: "And I ain't going back to my ear 'buds'. Anything else."

After that, he goes on random browsing on the Internet as he patiently waits for the noise to die down. Unfortunately, it just intensifies when he overhears Lori sharing Leni's messages to her sisters, which, of course, make them screech in excitement.

While going along with the motions, Lincoln suddenly receives a direct message from an anonymous user in Twitter. The message says, "Open your window." Curious, Lincoln opens his small circular window and goes back to his laptop to wait for what is about to happen. As he types to confirm of opening the window, an arrow with a heavy-duty rope tied suddenly hits to the corner of his room. He checks it out, only to see a girl ziplining to his direction. As she comes close to his way, Lincoln recognizes her.

"Wait, Lena? Is that you?" Lincoln utters. It is Lincoln's neighbor (and newfound twin) Lena Lark, who shot an arrow to his room and dashes now to his side.

"Make way Lincoln! Twinnie's coming!" Lena yells as she speeds up towards Lincoln's window. But before passing through the very small circular window, Lena ends up stuck there. She tries to pull herself out, to no avail. "Uhmm Lincoln, a little help."

"Oh coming!" Lincoln then stacks pillows to help Lena get pulled out of the extremely small window.

"Why you have such a small window?" Lena asks.

"Don't blame me. There's not enough room in this room," Lincoln says, "This was not supposed to be a room."

"I can see that."

"So what brings you here?"

"Well, saw your message. So I came to the rescue."

'Wait, that was you who messaged me?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?"

"I never sense you following me."

"You didn't? I even replied on your tweets."

"Probably haven't noticed the confirmation." He says this forcefully as he is forcefully trying his best to pull Lena to his room.

"Yeah, we'll take that later. But for now, better pull me out first. My butt's sticking out of your window. Don't wanna end up like Winnie the Pooh." She then grasps on Lincoln's white hair locks to help herself out.

After a number of pulls, and with all his force, Lincoln tugs Lena out of the window, but they both fall onto the bed, making Lena land closer to Lincoln's face. And just at a close (and intimate) gaze at each other, they immediately repel from each other.

That becomes a true awkward moment for the both of them. They take the time cooling themselves down, after such an expected encounter. Granted, the two have been really close to each other. But every time they end up so close to each other, literally and figuratively, butterflies suddenly roll in their stomach. Lincoln tries to brush off the blush from his face, but Lena lets her face redden. He notices his friend on her messy hair, her lop-sided ponytail, her murky green jacket, white top, red skirt, black leggings and white Chuck Taylor shoes, Lena's usual get up.

Feeling her shyness, Lincoln takes initiative to start where they drop off. "So…what's up?"

"Uhmmm…I just thought…we…or I…could help," Lena nervously implies. "You know?"

"Yeah…that would be good," Lincoln quickly replies.

"Yeah, I'll get my stuff," Lena says. She then heads back to the window and howls to her house, signaling Loui to hook up Lena's backpack to the rope and have it slide to Lincoln's room. "Thanks Loui!" she shouts to her sister, who gives Lena thumbs up. Lena then scatters the contents inside her bag to the bed. "Okay, where you say you were having a hard time on?"

"Well uhhh pretty much chemistry," Lincoln informs her, "We have this big recitation tomorrow on reciting some parts of the periodic table."

Lena is digging on her stuff and happens to retrieve an item that can help Lincoln in studying. "Hmmm…I seemed to have the perfect solution for that."

The item happens to be a periodic table of elements flash cards that Lena somehow mixes it up with Lacy's belongings or forgets to depose from her bag after using it for school. She then uses the said cards as part of Lincoln's studying. The cards show the chemical symbol at the front, while providing the detailed information of their chemical properties, like atom number, electronic configuration, boiling and freezing points and others. She flashes a card with an "Ag" on it.

Lincoln then answers, "Ag? Isn't that silver?"

"Good. Very good," Lena confirms. She then flashes another card that shows "Sn". "How about this?"

"Tin?"

"Atomic number?"

Lincoln then counts with his fingers and relies on his stock knowledge in determining tin's atomic number. "Well, it's a metal. So, it might land on 48?"

"Nope. Go on."

"49?"

"Keep going."

"50?"

"Good! Very good Lincoln. You're getting your chemistry correctly. Really mind-blowing." She then flashes a card with "K". "This one?"

"Oh, that's potassium. Present in bananas."

"That is good! Great job Linc!" Lena then proceeds to hug Lincoln in celebration for this wonderful feat.

"Nahh, it's all about appreciating chemistry, even though I think it's rancid in paper, but cool for real."

"Come on Lincoln. You make chemistry good."

"No, we make good chemistry."

But after hearing Lincoln's accidental statement, Lena gasps in surprise. Hearing those words just grumbles her stomach further and reddens her face more.

Lincoln realizes what he said and tries to explain it to Lena. "Oh, I'm sorry what I said. Never meant that…"

"No, it's okay. I…am…uhmmm…"

"Well, got carried away from there, huh?"

"Yeah…really much."

"But seriously, we make a good team I have to say. Honest, Lena."

"Yeah, we really do make a good team, twinnie."

"Yeah…" They try to shrug off the feeling of uneasiness that wraps around their bodies. They never realize that they are into each other's feeling, seeing that their relationship has been platonic. "Why don't we just continue with the others?" Lincoln insists.

"Sounds good," Lena replies, making her sigh in relief from their uneasy awkwardness.

Lena then takes the time to help (or even force) Lincoln to study for his recitations. His study sessions mostly involve Lena guiding him through visual aids, challenging him not to get slapped after every time he causes a mistake and browsing through supplementary material. Lena even implements both a reward system and a reinforcement module to help him concentrate. Eventually, after those came to pass (the reinforcement module eventually made him upset) Lincoln deems himself confident on his studying.

"Well, here goes nothing. If tomorrow ends up a failure, I'm not sure what else would," Lincoln utters.

"You can make it," Lena encourages him, "You just have to focus."

But ironically, the noise from the Loud sisters intensify after they giggle over Leni's conversation. And their subsequent shrieks rock the room.

"Ironically enough," Lincoln reacts.

"Well, what can work for you? Please tell me," Lena insists.

Lincoln then answers at the top of his head, "Well, if something exciting happens. Something I might expect and end up happy. And there's that something I didn't expect but I end up being happy. I don't know. It's something I could be inspired of, that I would be distracted away from my noisy sisters."

With that, Lena thinks of a solution out of Lincoln's wishes. She approaches Lincoln closer and asks, "Like this?" And just like that, she kisses Lincoln by the lips. Lena takes advantage on giving him something that would both distract and excite him to concentrate on studying. As she pulls out her kiss, Lincoln is stunned at this unexpected gesture from his next door neighbor that he dubs as his twin sister. "So, effective?" Lena then receives a text message from Loui, who informs her of dinner already set in the Lark house. "Gotta get back Lincoln. I shall see you tomorrow." She then pulls out the arrow she shot earlier, takes her stuff and ties the rope to the window pane. "You know what, after school, let's meet. If that became effective, I'd take the shot on treating you anywhere you like, okay?" Just like that, she uses the rope to climb down the house (with easy passage out of the small, circular window) and hurries back to her house.

Lincoln is just there, stunned at what Lena did. Nevertheless, feeling smitten by an 11-year-old hipster girl, his face reddens to full capacity. Lincoln cannot help but fall in love.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Lincoln comes to the class with assured confidence, stimulated by that simple kiss by Lena. Truly, as a boy surrounded by people who are lovable to him, he is certainly motivated by an act of "love". The results will vary once Lincoln receives the results of his science recitations, which will be released after dismissal, affirming enough.

On the final school bell, the students rush away from the halls and outside towards their respective destinations. Lincoln walks out with a firm grin and a proud look.

"Looks like someone has an awesome day," Clyde comments, spotting Lincoln with that proud look.

"I sure do," Lincoln boasts, showing him his grade paper that is marked as A+.

"A+?!" Clyde reacts.

"A+, my friend."

"How were you able to get a…?"

"It's a no-brainer. Got it locked right here."

"Are you kidding? Dude, that's godlike levels of success there! Let's celebrate!"

"Nah, let's do it tomorrow. Right after gym class."

"Why not now?"

"Ayy…uhh…have some errands to do with Lena. School stuff, you know?"

"Lena? I thought you became cool with Lena. What's up with you two?"

"Well, she's been…"

As Lincoln answers, Clyde notices some subtle details about Lincoln's pronunciation. Courtesy of his interactions with Dr. Lopez, Clyde is able to adapt his psychological tendencies an apply to observing his interactions with other.

When the topic about Lena is brought up, he notices Lincoln's voice box getting dry, based on the dictation of his words. And the stuttering also shows that there is some commotion between his best friend Lincoln and his friend Lena, a girl he only has a platonic connection (since Lincoln has Ronnie Anne). But the most blatant observation is his brief blush when Lincoln mentions Lena's name. For Clyde, it becomes all clear what is going on between Lincoln and Lena.

"Wait. Don't tell me Lincoln. Let me guess. Code sweet peach?" Clyde assumes.

In the line of Cl-incoln Mc-Loud's terminologies where their secret messages are color-coded, "sweet peach" means that during in a relationship with one girl, another girl purposefully kisses him, or he purposefully kisses said girl. Though that indication reeks of infidelity, Lincoln and Clyde had the code also for other people, in response to their suspicions about Bobby's presumed cheating. And at this case, Clyde raises a huge eyebrow on this, since he thinks his best bud is committed to Ronnie Anne.

But Lincoln denies, "What sweet peach? No. No sweet peach. Maybe, an orange or an apricot or an avocado."

"Buddy, I will not be mad at this. Just tell me what's going on," Clyde insists.

Lincoln suddenly realizes this, making him rather guilty. "Yep, sweet peach."

"Oh man, that's deadly ground there."

"I know. But she just kissed me to help me. I didn't have a choice."

"You could have at least asked what she's about to do to you."

"Well, it came as a surprise."

"Surprise or not, this is bad."

"I know." Lincoln then scours his hair out of frustration. But he chooses to stay chill on the situation. "Okay, okay. I get it. It happened. And it won't happen to me again. It's just between you and me, Clyde, and nothing else. Promise?"

"Don't worry buddy. I am always here with you. I am just worried about you. Or Ronnie Anne for this case."

"Don't worry. Ronnie Anne will never know about this."

Then, out of nowhere, coincidentally Ronnie Anne encounters them. "Never know about what?" she asks suddenly, shocking both Lincoln and Clyde.

"Oh, it's you," Lincoln utters, "Uhmmmm nothing. I mean never know…about…the fact that Clyde perfected the recipe on creating the most effective stink bombs ever."

"Stink bombs?" Clyde responds in bafflement of Lincoln's excuse. But Lincoln nudges him by the elbow to stay along with their play. "I mean yes. I accidentally concocted it from the combination of molded cheese, flower pot water and lemongrass air freshener. And boom, the stench of ten sweat-filled locker rooms."

"Gross," Ronnie Anne reacts.

"Well, have it patented so, you know, for credit," Lincoln adds.

"That's so strange, even for you two." But Ronnie Anne proceeds to the true purpose of approaching them. "But no time for that. We need some place secret."

Even with such a terrible defense, the two nonetheless go along with Ronnie Anne, who takes them back to the school and into the school gym.

"Okay, why did you take us to the gym? You know we're restricted to be here?" Clyde brings up a concern.

"Women's volleyball team will be practicing later. So, we get the gym for ourselves," Ronnie Anne assures as she gives sweatshirts for the two.

Lincoln then looks at the shirt and asks, "So, what is this about? And what's with the shirt."

"I heard it from some fifth graders that next gym class will be fitness exam," Ronnie Anne reveals.

And to their shock, Lincoln and Clyde reply, "Fitness exam?!"

Ronnie Anne nods for confirmation.

"Maybe it's just a jogging test or a jump rope test," Lincoln deduces hesitantly.

"Nope. That one." Ronnie Anne then points to the rope tied up from the ceiling, implying that the exam will be a climb-the-rope task.

"The rope?!" the two shriek.

"Yes. The rope. I thought that I would tell you now than the day itself," Ronnie Anne says. "So, shall we train?"

"Train? You mean, now train?" Lincoln replies.

"No, I meant the choo-choo train. Of course train! Come on. Give me ten laps around the court. We got only an hour here."

"I don't know about this, Ronnie Anne," Clyde remarks.

"Do you want to be scrutinized with an 'F' in gym?"

With that implication, Clyde immediately follows Ronnie Anne's commands. "Right away, ma'am."

As part of Ronnie Anne's instruction, Lincoln and Clyde does ten laps of jogging around the gym, right before actual warmup sessions. There are sit-ups. There are stretches of the body. There is bending. And of course, there are jumping jacks. It has been a grueling duration for the two. But for boys having lean physical bodies, they sure exert a lot of effort in the workouts.

After that, the two plunge themselves to the floor mat positioned below the dangling rope. Ronnie Anne then lays out her next set of instructions. "Guys, you might need powder for this one." The two know what is going to come. Still, they rub powder on their hands for protection. Afterwards, they go back to Ronnie Anne for the next routine. "I think you know what should happen next. Take your time. And I'll guide you along the way."

Lincoln takes the first climb, but he quickly falls after that. Clyde comes next and gets the upper hand as he clings on the rope, with his legs taking aim from below. He escalates after that but immediately falls.

"Clyde's doing right. You must put your weight on the rope, so it cannot drag you down," Ronnie Anne dictates. "From the top…or bottom."

Lincoln tries again but loses grip of the nylon rope after he swings his legs, producing a larger weight. Clyde gives his second attempt with the best force he exerts yet. He reaches the midway point of the rope. But as usual, he falls flat to the mat.

Back from the start, Lincoln attempts to try out Clyde's method on climbing by clinging on the rope. He does it successfully, but he pushes to pull his way up with a force. However, it only causes him to drop down. He tries to cling to the rope, but hanging on to it while being dragged down only causes for his hands to burn, much to his pain and frustration.

"Lincoln, it's about body cooperation. Don't let only your arms do the climbing," Ronnie Anne advises him.

"Yeah, that helps!" Lincoln grunts while walking out of the gym.

"Where you going?"

"Fountain. Need to cool off my hands from the burns!"

"Is he really like this?" Ronnie Anne asks Clyde.

"Unless someone irritates him, like his sisters," Clyde answers. "So…is it my turn?"

"Yeah go. Kill yourself."

Black comedy aside, Clyde returns to climbing on the rope. He does the same method previously but this time, he has a firm grip on the rope, along with his body. He ascends to the top, slowly but surely. And almost at a quarter before the topmost part of the rope, he clings upside down like an acrobat and swings his body in a clockwise motion.

Ronnie is just stunned at this circus performance that Clyde successfully pulled off. By that, she can confidently say that Clyde is ready for the fitness exam.

After that, Clyde lands on the ground with one leg but almost loses his balance upon landing. Yet, he gives a proud poise as if he was a performer. "Thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for seeing that marvel."

"That's…very impressive," Ronnie Anne compliments. "How come you never bring up that you can do acrobatics like that?"

"I accidentally end up in a circus class last summer. And I actually did a tightrope trick and a balancing trick like this," Clyde explains. "Man, that was long time ago. I never thought I would recall them."

Suddenly, Lincoln enters with his hand dipped on a glass of ice cold water. "Anything I missed?"

"Oh definitely! I was able to reach the top of the rope. Isn't that amazing?!" Clyde exclaims.

"Man, now that's the true definition of godlike," Lincoln replies.

"I never thought I would still have my jones for circus tricks. I got to hone them again." After having that conclusion, Clyde suddenly remembers of the time he promised to be at home. By that, he ends his training with Ronnie Anne and races toward home. "Speaking of which, I gotta go Lincoln. See you! Bye!"

"Wait Clyde! You can't just leave me…or us here with Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln grumbles.

"Don't worry bud. I'll try to reach you once I got home. Good luck with you two. And Lincoln, chill. You'll be fine! Just climb the rope."

"I…" Lincoln utters.

After Clyde exits the gym, the two return to training. Ronnie Anne has him go through extensive attempts on climbing the rope. But in every attempt, Lincoln always falls down.

So at the nth attempt, Lincoln breaks down out of frustration. "That's it! I'm quitting!"

"You can't quit now! We have to take advantage of this time!" Ronnie Anne asserts back.

"Can't you see, Ronnie Anne? I keep falling down. I'm not good enough. I don't even know if I'm suitable for this kind of task."

"What other choice you got Lincoln? Faking a medical certificate so you can skip gym?"

Just at that moment, they hear someone entering the room.

"Someone's getting in!" Lincoln reacts.

"Quick! To the lockers!" Ronnie Anne suggests, making the retrieve their stuff and hurry to the lockers. However, they accidentally end up in the severely crammed storage room.

But as it turns out, it is Clyde who returned to the gym to retrieve his costly water bottle he accidentally forgot. "Sorry guys. Forgot my water bottle. Guys? Where are you? Lincoln? Ronnie Anne?"

Lincoln overhears Clyde. "Hey, I recognized that voice. I think it is…"

But Ronnie Anne shushes him. "Do you want us caught or not?"

"Lincoln? Ronnie Anne? Huh. Maybe they just took a break or something," Clyde presumes.

"Seriously Ronnie Anne, I think it's Clyde," Lincoln insists while he tries force himself out of the storage room.

"Lincoln stop! Don't you dare screw this up!" Ronnie Anne mumbles softly as she restrains him from moving. But at the process, she accidentally presses her lips to Lincoln's. The space gets crammed more and more, making the two unable to back away their kiss. Without any other option, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne continue with the kiss.

"Oh well, I will just call Lincoln on the way home," Clyde utters. "Wherever you are buddy, good luck. See ya tomorrow!" Right after that, he leaves the gym, right before the girls' volleyball team enters the gym for practice.

However, Lincoln never gets to hear of Clyde's goodbyes as he gets in the moment on kissing Ronnie Anne. It is just "intimacy" between the two young lovebirds. A first since that time after their night out on the same night as the Sadie Hawkins' Dance, Lincoln never feels such love from his girlfriend.

"Hmm. You're not that bad of a kisser. Better than the first time," Ronnie Anne expresses.

"It was nothing. Guess I know where I got my lips from," Lincoln replies.

Yet, the tough girl suddenly switches tone, keeping up with her attitude. "But still, I hate kissing."

"Never minding that," Lincoln responds.

Just as they are feeling the moment, the two hear commotion from the gym, coming from the girls' volleyball team.

"Dang it. How are supposed to get out of here?" Lincoln asks.

Ronnie Anne then spots a conveniently placed window on top of the room and suggests to climb from there. "Mind giving me a boost?"

"Give me a boost instead."

Though that is not what she expects, Ronnie Anne grins on this, making her feel like Lincoln is up to step up his own game. With that, she positions to give Lincoln a boost to the window, allowing him to cling on the window pane and open the window. He grabs Ronnie Anne's arm and pulls her arm, making the two escape out of the school, in time for sundown.

"Well, this is good luck," Ronnie Anne utters. "Hope I don't see you in a sling tomorrow."

"I hope so," Lincoln replies, "Thanks for the training."

Ronnie Anne then kisses Lincoln one more time as a way to say "you're welcome". "Just don't hurt yourself okay?" Lincoln then nods for assurance. Upon receiving that, Ronnie Anne feels confident of her friend and proceeds to her home.

Lincoln is just left on the school grounds, stunned on what he experienced. "Ronnie Anne…such great time. I kissed Ronnie Anne!" he expresses joyfully. But he soon realizes of his flaw from that. "I kissed Ronnie Anne…And I kissed Lena. I kissed two girls. I kissed my girlfriend. And I kissed my best friend. What's going on with me?!"


	3. Chapter 3

After his gym session with Ronnie Anne, Lincoln rushes home and locks himself in his room to let loose of his mixed feelings. He has feelings for Lena, but in the same way, he has feelings for Ronnie Anne. And both of those girls kissed him on his lips. Any man would see this as the "luckiest feeling he could ever have had". But for Lincoln, this is bad news since he has to come to terms on choosing between a no-nonsense tough girl and a charming hipster lass.

In any attempt to get rid of these mixed feelings, like burying his face with a pillow, biting his bedsheets, sucking his thumb and running around his room hysterically with his arms waving, it all comes down to failure. Ultimately, he holds on to these feelings for a moment.

He then faces to us, readers and shares his thoughts, "You really want to know what it feels like being kissed by two girls? You may think it's heaven, but it is other than that. It just…a surge of emotions packed in one delicious chocolate cake. I can't help it. This is what you get for asking two more of those cakes and gulping them into your mouth. You can't handle it! I gotta get rid of this! But how?!"

Suddenly, someone comes knocking on the door untimely. "Lincoln, I literally need my colored pencils now!" Her tone and word usage leads Lincoln to recognize it is his oldest sister Lori on the door.

He answers it and says, "Oh hey Lori, I didn't know you were home fast."

"Well, you just have no business in my daily schedule," Lori replies, "So, where are my colored pencils?"

"Right! Your colored pencils. I'll get it for you." Lincoln afterwards races to his desk and retrieves Lori's colored pencils, which were scattered on his desk, and places it on their designated box. "Here you go!"

"Thanks! Better hope that they're still intact."

"They are. I promise." But in reality, Lincoln hides for the fact that he shortened her cyan-colored pencil to the smallest degree. "Wait Lori, do you still have a copy of that movie, you know, where the guy who played Deadpool told his daughter the stories of his three past lovers? I know one of his exes were the girl who played Lois Lane in _Man of Steel_ and one who played that creepy lady in _Hunger Games_."

"You mean _Definitely, Maybe_?"

"Yeah, that one."

"How come you suddenly got interested in romance?"

"I'm curious. Besides, both of us are in relationship. So, I need to be inspired. You know?"

"Lincoln, you don't need to watch a romantic movie to be inspired of your love life. But if you need some stories of inspiration, I'll happily watch with you."

"Good. That would be helpful."

After that, the two then head downstairs to the living room. Lori switches on the TV and opens her Netflix queue to select that 2008 romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds.

As the movie starts, Lori begins tuning to her phone to text to Bobby and Lincoln keeps his attention on the movie, observing every move that Reynolds give to the characters of Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz and Elizabeth Banks. Just every romantic gesture mysteriously gives Lincoln rumblings on his stomach that he felt were good. Well, that is the default feeling for every relatable piece of media.

At that moment, someone rings on the doorbell.

"I'll get that," Lincoln says. The 11-year-old then walks to the door and looks from the peephole to see Lena outside, anxiously waiting for him. This feels like bad timing for Lincoln, just as he tries to subside his feelings for the girls.

"Lincoln, are you in there?" Lena asks him worriedly, but he shuts her up, to avoid Lori from discovering of her intent to visit him. With that in mind, he gets a sheet of paper and sends via the mail chute a written message to Lena.

She reads it, after being sent through the chute, and says, "Can you pass through my window? Lori's here." Lena, being an open-minded girl, accepts the task and retrieves a rope from her bag to latch it on a roof ledge to be able to climb to Lincoln's small circular window.

When the anxious 11-year-old arrives to his room, he sees Lena (or half of her body) stuck on his laundry basket. "Uhmm Lincoln, little help," she says as she sways her body in order to remove the basket.

"Oh, I'll help you there," Lincoln utters, and then tries to keep hold of Lena to remove the extremely tight basket of her body. He tries it by removing the basket itself, then by pushing the basket away with a stick, then by trying to the opening from Lena and then by pulling the basket down with tying it to a heavier object (which in this case, is an old desk he retrieved from the storage). But it all comes down to failure.

"Men, that sure is one tight basket, huh?" Lincoln comments.

"So, I think I nearly trip from your window as I was about to enter the room. Then I landed here," Lena narrates about her conundrum, talking through Lincoln's clothes, "I must have not noticed the basket. Shouldn't have rough played a while ago."

"Hmmm, I think this might work. Just brace yourself, Lena," Lincoln instructs her.

"What you talking about Lincoln?" Lena mutters.

At that remark, Lincoln keeps himself silent and climbs to his small window. The plan is to do an impromptu wrestling routine, though Lena does not have an idea of what he is going to do. Having reached the angle from the window, he then jumps to Lena and tackles her. Lincoln takes hold of the opening of the basket and keeps it loose from Lena, as she runs on different directions.

"What are you doing Lincoln?" Lena asks.

"You said you rough played a while ago…" Lincoln points out.

"Yeah?"

"Well, here goes nothing."

Lincoln continues to grapple Lena by the basket. The latter tries to sway her body to let Lincoln go. But she quickly realizes what he is trying to achieve. "We'll see about that!" Lena utters as she keeps swaying her body back and forth. With Lincoln latching on the grilled patterns on the basket, she feels a heavy force that can serve as weight to release the basket. And add to her subsequent enthusiasm, she finally gets the basket off her body, making Lincoln drop to the floor.

"Yes! Finally Lena! The basket's off!" Lincoln loudly proclaims.

"Oh, really?" Lena replies on challenge mode. Just at that moment, Lena continues the rough play by pouncing onto Lincoln and wrestling him.

Though he finds this unusual, Lincoln plays along with her. Their wrestling game takes them the entire room floor to Lincoln's bed. It is all play on mixed martial arts and Mexican wrestling, methods that the two use when they try to outdo each other. But it is all fun for them both.

The commotion becomes so loud that the room starts to tremble. But thankfully, the rest of the siblings are at their own errands at that time (ending up Lori and Lincoln alone at the house), and Lori is busy paying attention to a sweet scene involving Ryan Reynolds' dad resolving matters with Abigail Breslin's daughter.

Finally, Lena has the upper hand against Lincoln, making her fall towards Lincoln on the floor while holding his arms. They take deep breaths after being exhausted from such rough play. But at that moment, they stare each other in the eye and see a different perspective in them. It bounces off as awkward but it becomes more intimate for the two considering.

However, the 11-year-old hipster takes her turn. "You didn't wait for me when I told you so."

"I'm sorry. I have to handle something important at that time," Lincoln stresses.

"You should have told me otherwise. I was waiting for you outside. Then it went too long, then I ended up with an arm wrestling match with a classmate of mine and Lexi."

"That seems fun."

"I won all."

"Oh. I wonder how they feel, including Lexi."

"Well…she had a hard time swallowing the fact that I actually beat her."

"Tragic for her?"

"So, why did you have me climb through window to get to your room? Why? Does Lori have a problem with me? Or anyone from that matter?"

"Nope. Not exactly. It is just…complicated. I didn't expect you to be here."

"Well, if it wasn't for you leaving me at school, or probably messaging me. If not text, paper planes would do. If that is too complicated, anything practical will do." Lena says this as she lays down relaxed on Lincoln's messy bed.

Suddenly, Lori calls out Lincoln, "Lincoln! Come here! I think you'll love this part!"

"Okay, I'll be back Lena," Lincoln says, "Just stay here in the room. Keep the door closed. And I'll be back, in a moment, depending if Lori's gonna rewind the movie." With that, he closes the door and heads back to the living room.

"What's he and his sister watching anyway?" Lena asks herself. She then entertains herself by slouching to Lincoln's bed and browsing through a comic book that was just laid on the floor. However, that is not enough to keep her alive. Thus, in an unexpected turn of events, Lena turns to the readers of this fanfic and shares, "You must be wondering why this story is called 'Lena', yet they show less 'Lena' and more of Lincoln's excellent adventure. Well, let me tell you my story…"


	4. Chapter 4

Lena's POV

I was a rather peculiar San Francisco kid. If the kids on my school would talk about their social media updates, hang out on the nearest ice cream parlor or get online for nonstop MMORPGs, I would do the opposite.

My routine everyday would go like this: get up every morning, take a small rinse in the shower, take my breakfast to my room, make one doodle while multitasking eating my breakfast and listening to either the latest indies or The Clash, rush to school on my bike, dodge the hall monitors, make it on time for class, then go home to either finish the paperbacks that my dad would give me or doodle again. I just love doodling.

Everyone would look at me as a strict nerd. They cannot seem to understand the words I was saying. I mean granted I geek anything from Middle Earth, _Firefly_ , doughnut outlets, the timeline of the Renaissance, high school algebra and even slam poetry. But they could have at least shared their thoughts about what they geek about. Sadly, that makes me a loner. And everyone mocks me for that. Some bullies would even tease me for my full name – Lenora – since it was also the name of the gross lunch lady in school. Though, I have one friend who was an extreme _Star Wars_ fanboy. But he moved out before I reached 11, since he complained the school for not having a vegan-friendly menu.

But no one else should blame me for being geeky. Blame that on my parents Craig and Lauren. Dad was a certified fan of The Beatles, Stephen King books and 80's cop shows; I think the latter is where he gets his vocal talent as a motivational speaker. Mom was a _Jem and the Holograms_ fan, as proven by her collection at her place. (Though she hated the 2015 movie reboot.) They were both geeky, and would often exchange nerd-ridden lines like in one conversation in the kitchen:

"Craig, where's the salt?" my mom asked.

My dad, in his old messy curly hair and thick mustache and dressed in a medieval peasant costume, replied, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

At first, I didn't get it. My mom didn't buy in to it but she did eventually. "Craig, you look ridiculous. I just need the salt, servant."

"As you wish."

"Please understand I hold you in the highest respect."

"Where I come from, there are penalties when a woman lies."

"Inconceivable!"

"That does put a damper on our relationship."

"Inconceivable!"

"You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means."

"I'll use small words that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog-faced buffoon."

They did play mock sword fight with kitchen spoons, and that's where they got too in love.

"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you," my mom said.

"As you wish," my dad replied, then went on to kiss mom. But she suddenly noticed me watching them.

"True love, all it can do is delay it for a while." Then mom went back cooking.

"As you wish," dad responded. Then he approached me and patted my head. "Mawwiage, sweetie."

Yeah, I was ten when I saw and they did exchange geeky lines. It was awkward. But it was cute for them. I even liked _Hook_ anyway.

But who cares? I am a proud geek anyway. I let it sink in when my dad would play vinyl records of 80's music compilation, and me and my sisters would dance to it.

Then, I fully realized that for my knack on vintage items, old school songs, movie and TV universes, art history, intermediate algebra and doodling, I was an outsider. My twin brother Lyndon would really realize this, since he often checks me out before and after school.

At one Saturday morning, he officially introduced me to the 'hipster culture'. When I woke up, I spotted a white T-shirt with the print withered lying on the floor. I always that it belonged to Lyndon since we shared the same room, and he would mess up his belongings on the floor. But the shirt felt like it was mine. So, the first instinct that came to me was doodling. I retrieved my marker, then start drawing over the white space on the shirt.

But surprise, surprise, Lyndon showed up at the door and told me, "Lena, that's my shirt! What are you doing?"

"Sorry Lyndon. I thought it was mine," I defended, "Didn't mean to draw on it."

But to my surprise, he praised me, "Lean, this looks cool. Your doodles look go this shirt."

"Really?" I replied.

"This is a design I like. How are you able to…?"

"I just love doodling. I even doodle some of our old history books."

"Hey, wanna see something cool?"

That afternoon, we rode on our bikes, then Lyndon took me to this café where a large mural of doodles was placed. It was so cool that I could stare right at it for a decade, just examining every look and expression of every magic marker-penned doodle. And I tell you, there is truth why a Domo-like doodle monster would puke rainbows that kids would enjoy.

That café had also fine vintage items and had mellow Electric Light Orchestra and The Killers at the same time on the background audio. This was a place where I belong. And that is when I felt that I have a best friend whom I can share my passions with.

Me and Lyndon went through many misadventures in San Francisco. We would swing on the bars while riding on the cable cars. We would sneak in tryout some exotic Chinese food. We would ride along with bikers in the city. We would take part in rock concerts and parades. We would go hopping on every obscure coffee shops in the city. And we would geek on our own fandoms, and rant on everything mainstream. We were very inseparable. That is why Lacy would berate us for being "twins". Well, duh. It was then that I finally embraced my hipster self.

After I finally embraced my new identity, I met this cute guy at class. His name was Wes. And he is as eccentric as I am. Being all to strict with his symmetrical stuff, even in his position in class. I try to woo, based on my learnings from a Woody Allen movie, an episode from _How I Met Your Mother_ , a Looking Glass song, and my parent's experiences. I was a clueless 10-year-old then. And I liked _Animaniacs_ and _Breadwinners_ at the same time. That is messy.

So, I try to capture his attention by appearing out of nowhere, wherever he goes. Ultimately, I asked advice from the more popular girls, who of course despise me. I asked how to get beautiful, and they just told me to "overload my face with makeup". Of course, I did it to make myself "beautiful".

And unsurprisingly, he got scared of me, and never noticed me. Such unrequited love. But that's not worse, as my whole class laughed at me more.

It was then that I went depressed and Lyndon rescued me from being ever so lonely again.

(An excerpt from "The Other House" - Chapter 13)

 _Lyndon arrives at his room with a cupcake box. There, he sees a blanket fort that was set at Lena's bed. As seen, Lyndon and Lena are in the same room together since they are twins. Usually, he and Lena set up blanket forts as part of playing. So, it's a surprise for him that Lena set up one herself. He approaches it to see Lena crying, with her knees covering her face. He moves her legs to see makeup messed on her face._

 _"Hey Lena, what's wrong?" Lyndon asks._

 _"Twinnie, do you think I am beautiful?" Lena asks._

 _"Of course you are," the twin brother assures sympathetically._

 _Holding her tears, she answers sobbingly, "I was trying to impress this cute guy. So, I took the advice of the cool girls there to put me makeup him notice me. I tried my best, but they laughed at me. Now, my entire class just laughs at me, like that didn't happened to me before."_

 _"Lena, you're beautiful just the way you are. Never mind those kids who bully you and who think you are not worthy. They don't mean anything," Lyndon encourages her as he wipes away her tears, "Look, it's hard, I know. But you shouldn't look down on yourself. You are Lena, one of the most beloved people I know. And the coolest hipster I know. And you have a lot to show. Don't be put down, just because others or other times put you down. Instead, be strong and show them love."_

 _"Why? Weren't you the one who told me that bullies are pests?"_

 _"They are. But they are still people who need love. So, show them…"_

 _"I don't know. You know me."_

 _"It's okay. Look Lena, you are beautiful, just the way you are. It's okay to be yourself, but do it out of love. How about this? Think of your classmates as Leonard the Bear. He may be mean in the cartoon, but in reality, he's cute." He then takes out a baby blue plush teddy bear, which the twins got from a claw machine._

 _In response, Lena embraces her brother in tears. "Ohh Lyndon, what would I do without you?"_

 _"It's okay, Lena. I love you too."_

 _After taking a moment to sink the emotions in and let it subside, Lyndon then gives the last blueberry cupcake from the box to Lena. "Here, something to cheer you up. I got that from that café downtown. It has this great display of 80's items. Awesome."_

 _Lena accepts it, and then slowly chews a bit. Delighted, she embraces her brother back, "Thanks brother! I love you…"_

 _After that, Lyndon thinks of another way to resolve Lena's worries through play. "Hey! Ranger Lenora, I cannot seem to intercept any signal from this cave. Can you read? Over…"_

 _Realizing what he is doing, Lena follows along, "Ranger Johnson, it's too dark in here. Can you hear my voice? Over…"_

 _"Hold on Ranger Lenora! I think there's a beast in the cave. Over!"_

 _Then the twins take all night of playing as cave explorers. There are a lot of moments between them. And this is just one of them._

And of course, the rest was history on what happened to my twinnie.

* * *

Normal POV

Lena continues to narrate to the readers, "That's not really all my story though. There's more with my fun sisters. But that would come at the right time. Right now, I wonder what's happening with Lincoln."

Back at Lincoln, he is currently watching with Lori as they go to the part where Ryan Reynolds' and Isla Fisher's character crossed paths in the airport.

"Man, they sure look adorable," Lincoln comments.

"Literally, but don't use the language," Lori asserts.

"Yeah, I just wondered why you find this 'the most adorable'."

"Well, it's the exchange. They know each other, so the way they finally meet again is...charming."

"I wonder how will that look like in real life."

Ironically enough, the doorbell rings. Lincoln goes to answer it, and to his shock, he sees Ronnie Anne.

"Hey Lincoln!" Ronnie Anne greets him.

But Lincoln shrieks, "Ronnie Anne!" And he knows her presence is just the start of more hi-jinks.


	5. Chapter 5

"Rrr…rrr...rrr…rrro…rrronnn…" Lincoln is stunned at Ronnie Anne's presence that he tries to overcome from his stutter of words.

"Lincoln, are you okay?" Ronnie Anne asks. "You seem to stammer."

"Stammer? Me? No," Lincoln says in deep denial, "No, I am just…surprised that you came tonight."

"Well, me too," Ronnie Anne responds, "I told Bobby that you will have your gym fitness test tomorrow. So, he would like to give you his fitness gear." She then gives Lincoln a box where Bobby's former fitness gear is stored.

"Oh Ronnie Anne, he shouldn't have."

Then she slyly requests, "Come on. Try it on. If it is not a good fit, I'll just return it to Bobby."

"No, I will try it on. In my room. Why don't you just stay here by the door, and I'll go change."

"Wait Lincoln, you're not gonna leave your friend by the doorstep, are you?"

"Oh no, Ronnie Anne. It's just something to make this more of a surprise."

Suddenly, Lori overhears their conversation and asks, "Lincoln, who is it by the door?"

"Ahh, nothing Lori. Just nothing," he quickly answers.

"I literally recognized that voice," she utters, and then approaches by the door to see Ronnie Anne. "Oh, it's just my future sister-in-law. What's up, Ronnie Anne?"

With a deep sigh, Ronnie Anne answers, "Hi Lori. Was gonna give this to Lincoln."

"Wait, I think I know this." Lori then squeals in delight, recognizing the box to be her boo-boo bear's gyy gear. "Don't tell me! This is Bobby's awesome fitness gear. He always uses this whenever he is doing marathons. He did a 10k recently. Now, why would Bobby ever give away this?"

"Nahh, I just told him that I trained Lincoln a while ago for his fitness test tomorrow," Ronnie Anne explains, "So he wants to give this away to Lincoln."

"Oh my gosh! Lincoln, you should rely try this on!" Lori insists.

"I will, I will," Lincoln says, "Just stay right here and I will walk out of my room – where I swear no one is in right now – wearing Bobby's fitness gear."

"Oh don't worry Lincoln. We'll wait for you outside of your room," Lori says, making Lincoln all the more worried and hastier.

"You shouldn't have Lori," Lincoln utters.

"Oh, this would be good. I can't wait to see Lincoln in Bobby's lame gym shorts," Ronnie Anne shares, which does more worry to Lincoln than calmness.

"But wait Lori, what about the movie?" Lincoln tries to distract his sister, to no avail.

As it turns out, Lori quickly pauses the movie on Netflix. "Ryan Reynolds can wait. Now, Lincoln please! I wanna see!"

"Okay, just a moment." With that, Lincoln hurriedly dashes to see his room and immediately locks the door.

Suddenly, Lena wakes up from a short nap and sees Lincoln hastily taking off his shoes. "Lincoln, what's going on?"

Lincoln then gets surprised to see Lena having woken up. "Oh Lena! Sorry. Forgot that you were here in my room."

"You forgot that I was here?" Lena responds with a worry look on her face.

"I'll explain everything later," Lincoln tells her in a hasty motion, "For now, I need you to do a favor for me, and please hide under the bed."

"What? Why would I hide under the bed?" Lena asks.

"Because Lori's just outside. And you wouldn't want it when she sees you here secretly in my room," Lincoln expounds, to which Lena gulps in nervousness. "And there's another girl with her. But that's beside the point. The point is we're not at luck."

Suddenly, Lori knocks by the door. "Lincoln, are you done?"

"I'm coming!" he tells his sister. "Hide now please!"

"Okay, okay," Lena replies. She then crawls under the bed and hides her face under some sheets.

Lincoln then changes his clothes into Bobby's fitness gear. The gear consisted of a purple sweatband, a sando jersey sponsored by Evian, short sweat shorts, elbow bands, long socks and neon green sneakers. This is usually Bobby's jogging gear but he occasionally uses it for other fitness activities like cycling, basketball, tennis and yoga exercises. But primarily, he used the gear for his gym class.

As Lincoln gets to his finishing touch, which is to wear a Fitbit watch, Lena takes a peek at him. "Woah Link, that looks so dorky," she laughingly comments.

"I know. I look like an 80's TV exercise host," Lincoln replies, "But my sister loves dorky."

"Nahh, dorky is the norm," Lena responds.

"Lincoln, are you done?" Lori asks him from the door.

"Just in a sec," Lincoln replies. "Hide!" He then places another blanket sheet for Lena to hide under, to which she quickly responds. Afterwards, he opens the door to reveal himself to Lori and Ronnie Anne.

"Oh my! Lincoln, you look so stupid!" Lori humorously remarks, "But I love it. That's what I like about my boo-boo bear. He literally looks stupid with his getup. But I love him."

"Yeah…great," he utters.

"Now just in a moment." Lori then positions her phone in front of home and takes a picture of her brother in her boyfriend's dorky gym clothes, much to Ronnie Anne's amusement.

"Wait, Lo….ri.," Lincoln gasps, but fails to stop his sister from taking a photo of him.

"This is literally going to go online."

"Yep, this is truly Bobby's getup. He loves it because he feels confident in it," Ronnie Anne shares, "Though the shorts kinda shrunk the last time he used it."

"Yeah, shrinking now," Lincoln adds.

Then Ronnie Anne notices something. "Link, you should tuck in your jersey. And that's a wrong way to tie your shoes. Let me help you fix it."

"I don't think it's necessary…" he insists to no avail, as Ronnie Anne drags him back to the room and locks the door. Barely has she known that someone is already in Lincoln's room. Thus, Lincoln becomes petrified to realize that he got locked in a room with the girls he likes.

"Link, if you want to ace gym test, you need to start with acing your gym getup," Ronnie Anne advises him as she tucks the jersey to his shorts before proceeding to other altercations. "I always help Bobby with this, in case he needs everything settled before marathons, including his choice of sports drink."

"You sure are a keeper taking care of your brother."

"Yeah, guess so. Even though he is the true hard worker in the family, he really gets clumsy or even scatterbrained. But I get to tolerate them all."

"Wow, coming from you."

"You seem surprised."

"Well, it's just something that I slowly accept."

"I'll give it that." Then, in an unbelievable turn of events, Ronnie Anne suddenly steps on Lena's hand, which is covered on blanket.

Lena tries to scream but she tries to hold her pain momentarily.

"That's odd. I think I step on something hard but…organic…" Ronnie Anne says.

"Oh no…" Lincoln gulps to himself.

"I think it's from under the sheets." Ronnie Anne then steps on Lena's hand one more time.

And this time, Lena screams, "AHH!"

The scream reaches until the living room where Lori waits for Lincoln and Ronnie Anne to get done while she posts Lincoln's photos.

"What was that?" Ronnie Anne asks, "Did I just hear a scream?!"

"A scream? Maybe," Lincoln nervously explains, "Or maybe it's one of those raccoons that you stepped on." He then makes a distraction by getting a rod and pretending to "smack" the raccoon away. "Stand back Ronnie Anne! This is going to get nasty. So I think you should step out of the room first."

"What?! No, Lincoln," Ronnie Anne insists, "We can do this together."

"No really, Ronnie Anne. These carnivores are savages. You don't want them to claw your face out. So I think you should get out first. And wait for my signal when I finished off those varmints." Lincoln then gently pushes Ronnie Anne out of his room and immediately locks the door.

He then takes up Lena to his bed to check on her. "Lena, are you okay?" Lincoln asks.

"Yeah, fine," Lena confirm, "But my hands…"

"Don't worry. I'll get some ice."

However, Ronnie Anne calls out to him, "Lincoln, what are you doing?!"

"Not to worry Ronnie Anne! I almost got the raccoon on capture!" Lincoln defends.

"It seems you're talking to someone else in there," Ronnie Anne assumes, making Lincoln and Lena all the more panicky.

"I was talking to the raccoon," the 11-year-old failingly defends.

"You know what I'm getting in, and we'll get rid of the raccoon together, whether you like it or not."

To add more to the pressure, the two notices the door unlocked, making it easier for Ronnie Anne to reenter the room. Lena gulps in fear of what is come. And just like that, the knob turns back and forth, and Ronnie Anne enters the room.

But when she enters, she sees only Lincoln with a rod and shouting to the window. "Yeah, you better run away, you rodent!"

"What are you doing?" Ronnie Anne asks.

"Like I said, shouting to the raccoon to go away," Lincoln says with a nervous grin.

"Yeah, I would highly doubt that you would convince raccoons to shoo away."

"But I did shoo them away."

"Oh really? Then let me check the windows." Ronnie Anne then pushes to Lincoln away to check out the windows to answer her suspicions that someone else is in the room. As it turns out, no one is out of the window. Not even below. "Talking to raccoons, huh?"

"Yeah, negotiating with them, heh…"

"Whatever." Ronnie Anne then walks away from Lincoln's room. "I'll just be in the living room. Meet me there."

"Yeah sure," Lincoln replies, "Good choice Ronnie Anne. I'll be there!"

Ronnie Anne then marches to the living room, still keeping her suspicions intact, and sits by the couch.

"Did I just hear a scream upstairs?" Lori asks her.

"Lincoln said there was a raccoon," Ronnie Anne answers dryly.

"Seems literally plausible," Lori replies in the same tone.

Back at Lincoln, he laments about the situation to the readers:

"Look at this madness. Who could foresee the one trick of timing could ruin it all? One in the living room, one in the yard. Nothing between but me and….Lena!"

But he soon realize about Lena. Thus he checks her out by the window. The plan is for Lena to latch on to the outer window pane and wait for Ronnie Anne to walkout. However, the plan backfired, and Lena was forced to drop herself from clinging on the window edge. Thankfully, she landed on a soft area.

Lincoln jumps from his window to check out Lena. But after he dives to the ground, he sees her wiping her skirt from the filth.

"Lena, are you alright?" Lincoln asks in concern.

"Yeah, close to breaking my hips, but I'm alright," Lena confirms.

Lincoln then sees a smudge of Cliff's stools on Lena's skirt. "Not a good sight."

"What?" she utters.

"Don't worry. I can handle that." Lincoln then takes Lena to the kitchen and gives her some ice cubes. He then tells Lena, "I'll get a disinfectant in the basement and a first aid kit. You get some ice in the kitchen, then wait in there. I'll be back."

"Be back right away, okay?" she remind him as he walks away.

"Man, hope we have more time," she utters to herself, "Need Lincoln to see my new mixtape."

Lena then checks out the fridge to see Loud's robust choices for food. And out of choices that include Hostess cakes, boxes of yogurt and leftover fast food, she takes out a nearly empty bag of kale chips.

But as she walks away, Lena bumps into someone.

"Ouuu sorry about that," Lena apologizes as she assists that someone up.

"It's okay. It's fine," that someone replies. It turns out that person is none other than Ronnie Anne. "Wait, who are you?!"

And at that right, Lincoln's two friends – unfamiliar to each other – face each other, for the very first time.


	6. Chapter 6

Face to face, eye to eye, one to one. That is what both Ronnie Anne and Lena feel when they, two strangers to each other, encountered each other for the first time.

"Who are you?" a suspicious Ronnie Anne interrogates Lena. "I have never seen you before."

"I'm a uhh…friend of uhmmm…" Lena stutters, making Ronnie Anne raise an eyebrow. "Lola. That's right! Lola! I'm a friend of Lola. I helped her…with her…algebra homework that she says was a bummer."

"Lola's six," Ronnie Anne clarifies for her, "Why would she have algebra?"

That suspicions internally stirs Lena to panic. Thinking of a way out of this deliberately apprehensive situation, Lena goes for the inevitable but reasonable excuse, "Dang it! Sorry, I meant Lynn. She had trouble with her homework. So I lend her help. Then, Lola burst from the door while we were studying, and she complained to Lynn to how much she had been arrogant to handing out her self-defense lessons. She's too loud that I cannot help but make her stuck in my mind."

"That's too reasonable to see," Ronnie Anne comments, toning down from her suspicions. "Lola tends to be a hothead for her demand's sake. Too pampered. But you know what, that's Lola being Lola."

Lena decides to stretch the conversation to cover up more her tracks. "Yeah, you know once when I was here, for Lynn of course, there was this beauty pageant on TV, and Lola keeps cheering and cheering that my ears start to bleed."

Ronnie Anne shudders at that experience. "Can't imagine that one. Well, it could've been better than stumbling on their doorway and bumping on a cactus glued to the ceiling."

Surprisingly, both shudder imagining what that would feel. "Well, what can you do with such a kid?" And from there, Lena introduces herself, "Hi! I'm Lena."

"Ronnie Anne," the Hispanic 11-year-old presents herself, "I'm Lincoln's…lab partner."

Recognizing her to be the "mean bully" that Lincoln told her about, Lena keeps her cool, "Great that Lincoln brought his lab partner in his house…" And from there, their conversation continues.

Meanwhile, without them recognizing, Lincoln goes back to the kitchen and gets taken aback to see two of his love interests conversing. Though it was bit of a relief to see them mutually interacting (since they have not revealed their true selves), it is uncomfortable for him to swallow the fact that they encountered each other. "Ronnie Anne…Lena…" he utters before he silently scoots out of the scene and retreats to the storage room below the staircase.

Immediately, Lincoln dials on his phone to call his reliable best friend Clyde. "Clyde! Clyde, please answer!"

In a moment, Clyde answers, "Hello?"

"Clyde, you have to help me! We got Code Fuchsia!" Lincoln alerts him.

"Code Fuchsia?! You posted an embarrassing photo online and it got shared?" Clyde responds.

"Nope, that was Code Teal. Code Fuchsia is the part where I may get compromised in my relationship."

"Oh no?! What happened?"

"You know the stuff Lena and I have been doing?"

"About your clinginess to each other? Yeah."

"Well, Ronnie Anne's here."

"Oh boy, Lincoln, that doesn't sound good."

"What should I do Clyde?! If Ronnie finds out about my deep friendship with Lena, she'll break up with me, and you surely don't wanna mess with Ronnie Anne. And if Lena finds out I have a girlfriend in Ronnie Anne, I'll really tear her heart apart. What am I going to do?"

Just at that moment, a scream is heard from Clyde's line.

"Clyde?" Lincoln utters.

"Oh, sorry buddy," Clyde replies, "I, Liam, Rusty and Zack are having a sleepover here. And we're watching Stephen King's _It_. Rusty scram like a baby."

"Wait, how come you didn't invite me?"

"I was about to, but then you extended you're training with Ronnie Anne. So, it's just us, four."

"Wait, Clyde. Just stay on the line. I need you!"

Suddenly, Liam from Clyde's line interrupts the phone conversation and calls out to him, which Lincoln overhears. "Hey Clyde! You are about to miss this part!"

"Sorry buddy! Gotta run! I'll get back to you as soon as I can!" And just like that, Clyde hangs up.

"No! Wait Clyde!" Lincoln clenches his fist in frustration and then turns to the readers. "Man, best friend…" he utters in the same manner as Charlie Brown when he reacted to Snoopy's booing in _A Charlie Brown Christmas_.

Afterwards, he goes to his list of contacts whenever he had emergency situations like that. The second person Lincoln calls is Pop-Pop. But as he waits for his response, Lincoln only receives a recorded message: "Good morning acquaintance. I am currently due to uhmmm…due to uhmmm…unforeseen…circumstances. Please leave a message, and I will try to answer, once I get back to my vacation in Maldives."

"Dang it! Pop-Pop, why at this time?" Lincoln replies out of franticness. Next, he phones his guidance counselor but he only hears an automatic voice message from the telecommunications provider: "This number is no longer at service. Please try another number, and perhaps we can help in your situation."

This does not help Lincoln's situation. In a last ditch attempt for asking helps, he navigates to his list of contacts and randomly presses on one particular number.

"Hello?" Lincoln waits and gets a reply. "Bro, thank goodness you answered. I am in the middle of a crisis right now! Two girls I like are here, and they see each other. I need your help since one of them is my girlfriend, and the other is my best friend. And I don't want to ruin any of my relationships with them. What should I do?!"

It turns out that Lincoln actually dialed to Dipper Pines of _Gravity Falls_ , who is currently lying on the grass under the night sky. With a brimming sense of familiarity, he replies, "You know man, we talked about this. No multiple girlfriends. Cross the line, and you'll break their hearts." He then drops the call, worrying Lincoln more and more.

"Who's that?" a girl voice asks Dipper.

"Just an old friend from camp," Dipper replies, "Called out of desperation. Hope he's good." As it turns out, Dipper is having a "night out" with Pacifica, where they goof off stargazing.

"Well, suit him best," Pacifica utters. "Now, tell me where's Scorpio?"

Back at Lincoln, he frantically goes back to his list of contacts and dials to another random number. Miraculously, it answers immediately, and Lincoln explains his situation. "Hello? Please bro! I need help! I've been caught in the middle! Two girls I like, they're here in my house, and they see each other. I don't know how to deal with them. What should I do?!"

And then the caller, who is actually Timmy Turner from _The Fairly Oddparents_ , replies to him (in an unexpectedly frantic tone), "I've seen worse." What Timmy is referring to is his current situation, where he is confronted by a situation where Trixie, Tootie and Chloe clash at each other on arguing who gets to be Timmy's love interest. Not even his fairy godparents, who are cowering at the corner, can help him now. With that, the Turner kid drops his call.

"No!" Lincoln howls, then talks to himself to calm down, "That's like the one millionth call I had! Okay, get it straight for yourself, Lincoln. Just be cool, and walk to them, and say 'Hi', and never address that you had any relationship with them in the first place. Okay, that's good. Then, I will board the next plane to Finland and rename myself "Linkert Loudgren" and then migrate there. That's good. Then I will wait till the storm dies down. And we all live happily ever after. That doesn't sound like a bad plan."

However, as he walks out of the room, Lincoln bumps into the two of them.

"Lincoln?!" Ronnie Anne and Lena call to him.

"Ayy! Ronnie Anne?! Lena?!" Lincoln hysterically utter.

"Wait a minute. Why does he call your name if you said he doesn't know you, or you don't know him?" Ronnie Anne asks Lena.

"I meant he hasn't seen me yet, but he might have seen me from the class pictures," Lena explains.

"Wait, what class pictures?" Lincoln replies, "You don't mean the class picture in the secrets box that I forbid you to touch?" But he quickly covers his mouth.

"Wait a minute Lincoln. I thought that secrets box was in our confidentiality," Ronnie Anne reacts.

"Wait, you get to have a secrets box?" Lena reacts vehemently.

"Yeah, so?" Ronnie Anne utters.

"Lincoln!" Lena shouts to Lincoln.

"Lena!" Lincoln shouts back.

"Oh, I see you two have indeed know each other," Ronnie Anne suspects.

"What?! No! Why would I?" Lincoln defends.

"Why does it matter to you anyway?" Lena follows up to Ronnie Anne, "Unless you have some kind of relationship with Lincoln?" She then turns to her twinnie. "Lincoln?"

But he keeps stuttering, trying to find excuses or answers.

However, that indeed sums up the realization for both Ronnie Anne and Lena. Having met and be acquainted to each other ten minutes ago, they turn to each other, feeling the awkwardness of the situation. But they swallow it up to cover their growing feelings.

"Alright, I see what's going on here," Ronnie Anne says with a rather condescending tone, "Sorry for interfering. Good luck to your gym test. Now, would you excuse me? I need to prepare for dinner." And with that, she walks out.

Lori enters the scene abruptly. "Hey, I heard shouting from the living room. What's going on?" She then notices Ronnie Anne walking out of the scene and Lena with Lincoln. "Ronnie Anne? And Lena? What are you doing here?"

At that instance, Lena prepares to walk out, but not before gives a cassette tape with the label "Our Own Awesome Mix Vol. 3" to Lincoln. "I need to get back. Here. I was going to give this to you once you get back. Then we could listen it together. I'll just…get back to my study." In the same way, Lena walks out of the scene with her chins up and her feelings concealed, just like Ronnie Anne.

Seeing the situation, a concerned but agitated Lori confronts her little brother. "Lincoln Loud, you better explain yourself what's going on."

And with a deep sigh, and while his two beloved female friends walk out of the Loud house, Lincoln explains everything to Lori.


	7. Chapter 7

It took an hour and fifty minutes for Lincoln to explain the whole situation to Lori. Though she yawned at one point, Lori kept attention to every detail of Lincoln's story, especially when he got to the part when Lena and Ronnie Anne kissed him all at the same 24-hour period.

"And that's how the cookie crumbles," Lincoln concludes.

After that, Lori is just flabbergasted at what she heard.

"Uhmm Lori, are you okay?" Lincoln asks.

"No, I'm fine. I'm fine Lincoln," Lori nervously affirms, "I just need some yogurt in the kitchen."

With that, Lincoln guides Lori to the kitchen, where she gets a 1.5L of raspberry-flavored yogurt in a bottle. She takes a whole gulp of the bottle to calm her senses. After a while, she takes a deep breath to go back where she stopped.

"Okay, going back to the situation…" Lori utters, but suddenly breaks down in front of him, "Why would you do such a thing, Lincoln?! Don't you see what you did there?! You completely stole the heart of two young and beautiful girls, and you wanted a relationship with them both?!"

"Not exactly that way…" Lincoln defends.

"Oh no, oh no Lincoln, don't give me that look like 'I never thought that it would end up this way'!" Lori replies with conviction. "You're Lincoln Loud! You're my brother. And I know you are better than this!" She then drinks the rest of the bottle and throws it to the trash bin, much to Lincoln's shock. But sooner, she does routine breathing exercise to calm her down.

"Are you better now?" Lincoln asks.

"Yeah, yeah. I think I'm good," Lori asserts. "Now, calm. Sorry about that. Needed to bolt that out when I heard about what you did."

"I know. Fair enough."

"The matter literally stays the same. Why could you be ruining this for me, for you, for us all?!"

Lincoln is again stunned and irresponsive to Lori's rage.

"How Boo-Boo bear react?!" Just at that moment, her phone rings, and Lori goes to answer it. "Hello?" Then, she suddenly hands it over to Lincoln. "Speaking of which…"

It is clear for Lincoln on what is going to happen next. "Hello?"

Just as Lincoln answers, Bobby from the other line bolts out, " _Lincoln, I don't how to even describe what I am feeling right now. Or what Ronnie Anne is feeling right now! I can't!_ "

"Look Bobby, let me explain everything," Lincoln pleads.

" _Oh, you are really gonna need some explaining_ ," Bobby replies hostilely, " _Put Lori back on the phone._ "

Lincoln, with his body shaking, then nervously gives back Lori's phone, and Lori answers, "Yes Bobby?"

" _Make sure Lincoln doesn't get out of the house. I will need to confront him, face to face._ "

"Don't worry about it. I have him literally under my watch and my warning," Lori assures. But as she looks back to check him, Lincoln has speedily retreated to his room. "Let me get back to you on that. Just come here if you need to come here." After that, she drops the call.

* * *

Back at Lincoln, the frantic 11-year-old contacts Clyde via walkie-talkie at a very desperate time.

"Riggs to Murtaugh, are you there? Over…" Lincoln communicates, waiting for Clyde's response.

Immediately, Clyde replies, "Murtaugh to Riggs, right over here. Any problem buddy? Over…"

"Big. I mean a major problem," Lincoln broadcasts.

"Oh no, that tone is not a good sign. What gives?" Clyde asks.

"They met each other. And they knew!"

"Wait, who met each other? And what did they know?"

"Well, remember what I told you about Ronnie Anne and Lena?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, there you go."

"That's bad news, Lincoln."

"I know." With that in mind, Lincoln palms his face.

"What's you next move buddy?"

"I don't know but I have even worse news. Bobby learned about it, and he's out to find me!"

"Don't worry Lincoln. I'm heading right for ya. I'll stop Bobby!"

"Wait Clyde, you don't need to…" but as he is about to finish, Bobby suddenly arrives with his motorcycle and marches to the front door. "Too late."

Having heard of his arrival, Lori opens the door for him.

"Let's get in to business," Bobby says fiercely but phonily, "Where is he?"

"Retreated to his room," Lori replies, "You know what that means?"

"Not if I can help it!" Clyde screams from a far as he is hurling towards Bobby's direction after being catapulted. That question of how he is catapulted is beyond this writer's comprehension (or just cartoon physics). With that, he lands on Bobby's knees, collapsing him. "That's gonna leave a mark."

"Clyde, what are you doing here?" Lori asks.

"Protecting my best friend from any corporal punishment that might come as a result of his mistakes," Clyde declares while trying to recover from his head fall. "Now, halt it right there, Bobby, or else!"

"Get out of the way, Clydesdale," Bobby insists, but Clyde pushes Bobby aside.

"Never," Clyde says as he slaps Bobby in the face. And the two suddenly engage in a slap fight.

"Clyde, snap out of this!" Lori pleads.

But he misinterprets what she is saying. "Lori, save yourself! While I'm trying to stop…Bobby!"

Lincoln overhears the commotion and attempts to stop them. "Guys! Clyde, you don't need to do this."

"Lincoln, save yourself!" he warns him. But Bobby overpowers him with a push to the ground and approaches Lincoln at full force.

"Lincoln, I just can't believe it," Bobby laments, "I treated you like a brother. Mi hermano. A brother I never had. But now, all has changed because of your unfaithful deeds. I don't know what to say."

Suddenly, Clyde leaps to his position and grabs him by the hair. "Save yourself, Lincoln!" But Bobby tries to push him aside.

"Clyde, this is my problem," Lincoln pleads.

"Don't worry! I got Lori stealer and best friend hurter!" Clyde insists as he grabs Bobby by the face.

"Clyde, stop!" Lincoln begs as he tries to grab Clyde, but the latter prevents from doing so. And it all leads to a scuffle for the trio.

"Lori, a little help," Bobby says.

But before she could speak, she hears the van getting parked on the garage driveway at the nick of time. "Literally just in time."

And in an unforeseen circumstance, Lynn Sr. enters the household to see the boys fighting. "Lincoln! Clyde! And Bobby? What are you doing?!"

Immediately, the boys give their excuses but they overlap with each other that Lynn Sr. fails to hear each one of them. "Hold on, hold on, one at a time, boys. What is going on?"

"I think I can explain everything dad," Lori says before she whispers to his ear on the situation, but never going deeper on the extent of Lincoln's case.

"I see." Lynn Sr. then ponders on the next steps he can do to resolve everything and assist Lincoln in his "situation". "Well boys, you are coming with me."

At his words, the boys gulp out of nervousness as to what Lynn Sr. is going to do to them.

* * *

However, it comes to their bafflement and surprise when Lynn Sr. takes the boys to Gus' Games and Grub for dinner. Flavors like pepperoni, all-cheese, vegetarian and Hawaiian are served to their tables, plus garlic bread as an appetizer. The boys are instantly puzzled as to why Lynn Sr. would treat them for pizza.

"What are you waiting for boys? Chow," Lynn Sr. insists as he chomps down a slice of the pepperoni.

"Uhmm thanks dad," Lincoln, uncertain, replies.

"Yeah, sure Mr. L," Bobby nervously follows, then whispers to Lincoln, "Your dad is a little bit kooky."

Unexpectedly, Clyde speaks up for them, "Mr. Loud, I know you came in at a very bad time, but we have a right to know what you have put…"

But Lynn Sr. silences him, "Hush now, Clyde. I'll cut to the chase. Just enjoy your pizza." Though, the boys are totally hesitant to do so. "Go on. Just enjoy the moment before I really punish you."

Just like that, the boys get their own slices of pizza and chow it down.

Moments after, Lynn Sr. shares his story, "Just enjoy yourselves. You know, I had a friend once in college who is a hopeless romantic, like this guy (pointing to himself). But anyway, he always dreamed of the perfect future: with a dream house, a dream job and a dream wife. He waited for years for that time to come. But he grew out of patience. He then settles with a Korean girl. But at the same time, he settles in with his childhood friend. He was desperate though. No wonder both of the girls left him immediately."

At that note, while Bobby and Clyde are chowing down on pizza while listening to Lynn Sr., Lincoln stops eating and turns his attention to his father's story.

"I tried to convince him to stop pursuing for romance, but he remains that way. Though he got married now. And the last thing I heard from him is that he is not going well with…you know? The point is he should rethink about why he wants a family or why he wants romance in the family. Because leading a family is responsibility, and it starts from the first instance you date a girl. But you get me, son? You have a responsibility as a man. You're not a boy now, son. You're a man."

Pushing his slice of pizza aside, Lincoln can only find himself in total guilt and remorse over what he has done. Now, he gets the punishment that his father is talking about.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Ronnie Anne walks to school grumbly. Her feelings about yesterday's happenings still inhibit in her. It is just baffling for her that Lincoln – one of the few people who see her as a legitimate caring person – would actually double cross her with a girl she gets along with. With that, her normal demeanor returns, much to the fear of the students.

At lunch time, the tough Hispanic girl marches to a nearby and forces the students there to flee from the table. With no other choice, they comply. Ronnie Anne then throws her lunch try to the table in anger. But she loses her appetite. She knows she cannot get rid of dismay of Lincoln's actions, or probably even Lena's sudden appearance.

Speaking of which, Ronnie Anne sees Lena from the window. She is just simply lying on top of the stone table, with no around to mind her. Her thoughts about Lena still sticks to her. Rather than rubbing it off along while moping at lunch, Ronnie Anne decides to approach her.

As she does, the 11-year-old sees Lena hopelessly lying on the table while listening through her headphones and her phone. As she approaches, Ronnie Anne accidentally steps on a mixtape, to which she presumes to belong to Lena.

"Lena, Lena," Ronnie Anne calls her, but she won't hear, due to the earphones. Because of that, she lifts up the right ear pad and calls out to her again, "Lena."

Slowly, Lena wakes up and sees Ronnie Anne to her shock. "Ronnie Anne! I didn't notice you here."

Ronnie Anne hands over the mixtape back to Lena. "Is this yours? I accidentally stepped on it. Sorry."

Lena then receives the mixtape from Ronnie Anne to her despondence. "Thanks anyway."

Hoping not to end their encounter in a sour note, Ronnie Anne decides to open up to Lena. "Hey, about what happened yesterday, I cannot feel anything but bad."

"You don't have to. It happens," Lena replies. "You just chose on how you want to feel."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, it is not the first time this kind of heartbreak happened to me."

"What happened to you?"

"Same old story. Fell in love. Did my best to act normal. And it all went to failure after being a fool in love. Well, haven't got to the full details of how I woo him…"

"Spare me the puppy love story. I don't want to hear it."

"Why? What's your story with Lincoln?"

At this time, Ronnie Anne feels awkward and hesitant to share any detail of her deep friendship (or intimacy) with Lincoln. "It's pretty exclusive with the two of us."

"Come on. How would I know how you two become exclusive?"

"What is there to know?"

"Look, Lincoln and I consider ourselves as twins. I know that the both of us had a really good friendship. I just didn't know for the fact that he actually had a girlfriend behind my back."

"Okay, you two are close friends. That's good. So what's with you having a problem with how Lincoln and I are in a relationship?"

When Ronnie Anne vents out her feelings, Lena nearly begins to tear up but she swallows up her emotions to properly confront Ronnie Anne. The latter takes notice of this and eases her inner tension down.

"Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean that."

However, Lena curls her legs near to her body and hugs her legs. It is the best for her to ingest and accept the whole situation, even if it hurts her.

Wanting to empathize with her, Ronnie Anne sits beside Lena and opens up to her, "Lincoln and I didn't start kindly. I was mean to Lincoln. I mean I'm a tough girl. I need to embody it. Well, it was at that time at class when I set up a trap for Lincoln when he is about to speak for a speech about freedom of speech. But when I heard his speech, I felt something different. Something I never really felt before. Maybe, I think it is the way his use of words, or the way he speaks. But, to put it mildly, I guess it was his heart…But I still continued on with the prank and targeted the ceiling tile that made dust fall on him. Ever since then, I hid my feelings from him until the day he knows that I like him. We hide our relationship away from the rest, since I don't want him to feel embarrassed. Well, Clyde, Lori, Rusty, Liam, Zach and my family know."

"So, how did it went?"

"Lincoln's a sweet guy. He's just too much cautious when I'm around since he still sees me as a threat. But I softened up to him. So does he. I just don't know how are we now. But he's a good boyfriend."

After hearing Ronnie Anne's backstory of how she and Lincoln end up being together, Lena begins to paint a different picture to how she sees them both. "Well, there answers my fate."

"Sorry if you have to hear it that. If that hurts you. You don't have to dig that feeling down, just like you said."

"I know. Maybe I just put my expectations too high."

"Why do you like Lincoln anyway? And how you found him?"

"Well, the best way to put it is he found me. He stumbled at our house when we moved in here at Royal Woods. I invited him to jam along. He actually appreciated it. It was that only time that someone else other than Loui, Leah or even Lois appreciated my passion. Then, I got closed to him. I kept inviting him to join with me in listening to some of dad's mixtapes. He was fun to be with. We're really great twins. But I don't know. The way we became close, I felt that he's more than my twin." Lena is about to express her utmost adoration for Lincoln. But just as she was at the apex to pouring out her thoughts, she lets it die down and sighs deeply in relief. From that point, she realizes her romantic feelings to Lincoln is absolutely insistent. "But I guess it wasn't meant for me."

In response, as the hipster girl is about to tear up, Ronnie Anne holds Lena's shoulder and Lena embraces her to her back from breaking down. The former is as shocked as ever to be at a situation where someone at her age shared her emotional testimony, and she has to sincerely show her empathy. Instead, Ronnie Anne feels awkward but understanding.

"Okay, okay. It's okay," Ronnie Anne confides to Lena.

With a big gulp to her throat, Lena completely drains her emotions to her gut, finally being a good sport about the relationship dilemma. "Might as well accept reality. Why should this change my friendship with Lincoln?"

"My mistake if I ever tore your friendship apart."

"No, you didn't. I am just overreacting. You know what, it's okay. I accept it. Lincoln's still my twin. And I will support every decision he makes."

"Lena, you don't have to be putting yourself in the friend zone. You're a great friend. I don't know it yet. But if he knows, he knows."

"No Ronnie Anne, I support the both of you. If you wish to…you know."

"I'll just leave it to Lincoln. But I want to take a break."

"You mean break up?"

"No, not break up. Just chill. I have a lot of stuff under my belt. Don't want it heavy. Besides, we don't want to leave you out when we go see _Annabelle 2_ in the cinemas."

"Oh I'm in for that!"

With the two girls finally reconciling, they embrace each other as a seal of a restored friendship. Though, Lena clings longer enough for Ronnie Anne to feel less awkward.

"Uhmm Lena, you can let go now."

"Sorry."

Finally, to end that off, the two shake hands.


	9. Chapter 9

In response to his dad's stirring story, Lincoln decides to step on his relationship with Ronnie Anne and his friendship with Lena. With that, he walks up to the Santiago residence, dressed in a tuxedo and bringing himself with flowers and chocolates. Though tensed and nervous on how he must confront Ronnie Anne, Lincoln proceeds to knock on the door.

Immediately, Ronnie Anne answers, stunned at Lincoln's getup. "Lincoln, what's with all of these?"

Though, Lincoln proceeds with his plan and pulls out his own notes to read out his apology poem to Ronnie Anne, that he wrote with the help of Lucy.

 _As love is drastic as it may seem_

 _As the heart beats to stop it to gleam_

But Ronnie Anne stops him, "Okay, Edgar Allan Poe. Stop it with the cheese. What do you want?"

"Can you let me finish first? I'll get to that," Lincoln hints her.

"I know what you're going to say. Just cut to the chase, Lincoln," Ronnie Anne insists. "I just need to hear your own words."

With a big breath in his lungs and with all hesitations dropped, Lincoln admits, "I am sorry for ruining our relationship. And I am sorry I preferred you over Lena for some time. I give in. It's all my fault."

At his statement, the Hispanic girl feels confident of Lincoln's present sincerity. "That's more I like it."

"What? So, no slap to the face? Or any threats? Or any signs of anger?"

"You watched too many telenovelas, Lincoln."

"Wha…no. Why would I watch telenovelas?"

Contrary to what he claims, Lincoln secretly watches telenovelas after Saturday morning cartoons in the living room. And undoubtedly, he tears up in recurring scenes of two lovers separating, and gets tensed whenever he watches a cheating/or liar reveal scene in any of the soap operas. Upon recalling that, Lincoln nervous chuckles. "I swear it's for Spanish class."

"Right…" Ronnie Anne then opens the door wide, a sign of invitation to come inside their house. "Wanna come in?"

"Uhmmm sure?" Lincoln hesitantly answers, unsure of what she's doing. He then utters his thoughts to the audience, "I wonder what's going on."

Ronnie Anne then leads him to the living room where he sees Bobby and – to his absolute surprise – Lena watching _Pacific Rim_.

"Lena?!"

"Oh, hi Lincoln! Great that you're here!" Lena greets him.

Lincoln is at a total loss of words of what transpired. "But how did you…how were you…how…what the wha…I can't ahh…?"

"Easy there, Lincoln," Ronnie Anne says, "I already talked about this with Lena."

"We both agree to settle our friendship together," Lena glues the whole story.

"But what about our relationship, Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln asks his 'girlfriend'.

"It still us, but not for the moment. I have more things to handle than some cheesy romance," Ronnie Anne clarifies.

"And Lena?"

"I'm a good sport Lincoln. I've been there. And I don't want my heart to be broken into pieces again. But don't worry about it Lincoln. I'm here for you," Lena assures.

"So does this mean?"

"Lena and I would like to be friends," Ronnie Anne explains, "So she supported the both of us. But I wish we can all start over as best of friends."

"Yeah, but how about you Bobby? You said your relationship with Lori will be over whenever I break Ronnie Anne's heart?"

"I…you're right. I'm still mad at you," Bobby explains, "But I learned that I should not depend my relationship to Lori on you two, but on the both of us. Or at least that's what I kinda learned from your dad's story, or _A Walk to Remember_. I'm still mad at you though for cheating."

At that note, Lincoln becomes saddened.

But Bobby lifts up his spirits. "Though, it wouldn't hurt to invite my brother from another mother for weekend movie marathon." Hearing his approval, both of them hoot in excitement. "Though I have to ask why are you in a tux?"

"Hehehe. Just came from a wedding?" Lincoln hesitantly gives his alibi.

"Nah. He just got booted off from his valet job," Ronnie Anne jokingly implies, prompting the four of them to laugh (with Lincoln giving a nervous laugh, much like in "Shell Shocked").

"Or probably got rejected from a penguin audition," Lena jokes, giving more laughs. "But seriously Lincoln, you look Roger Moore Jr."

From Lena's remark, Lincoln smirks.

"Hop on bro!" Bobby invites him to the couch.

"Oh I'm in!" Lincoln replies, prompting Bobby to resume the movie. At that point, the boys cheer on the awesome moments in the movie.

"Well, that is Lincoln," Ronnie Anne remarks.

"Sure is," Lena agrees, "I'll love him for the way he is."

"Me too," Ronnie Anne replies.

Though from there parallel statements, the girls feel a hidden tension that they may feel within their friendship. With that, they stare and smirk at each other.

"Well, we'll see who's who in the future," Ronnie Anne says.

"We'll see about that," Lena replies, "College?"

"College," Ronnie Anne accepts Lena's gamble of who will Lincoln end up with at that period. Determination comes between the two girls and tension rises as they face each other.

But…they discard it at the last minute.

"You know what, that's kind of pointless," Lena points out.

"Yeah, have better things in life than kiss lame-o again," Ronnie Anne adds.

"Me too, like reading."

"Do extreme sports, or hockey."

"Yeah, it's pointless."

"I agree." And after that, silence comes between them for few moments. Afterwards, Ronnie Anne breaks the ice "Can we listen to your mixtapes?"

"Uhmm sure," Lena accepts. "If you have a radio cassette player still working."

"I think we have those on the attic."

"Yeah. Then let me introduce you to vintage and indie music." With that, the two head to Ronnie Anne's room while Lincoln and Bobby continue their movie marathon.

 _Though, it is still uncertain of who Lincoln must pick out of the both of them. Yet, it is better that way since he is still 11 years old. But Lena and Ronnie Anne shall see._


	10. Lena Returns Chapter 1

Lena is an overzealous girl with a lofty imagination, a knack for vintage items and a pocketful of insights that will almost mystify anyone. At least that is what she thinks.

Back at her home in San Francisco, she is constantly a loner and an outcast, presumably due to her abrupt discussions on 70's politics and _In Living Color_ enthusiasm. Though, she still managed to bag some friends in the AV club, even though the members of that club are rather unnerved to have her around.

One time sundown, she requests for a video-chat via their message portal that they organized. Lena was the person to be ever added in the chat portal, to her surprise.

She then sets up conducive lighting to make her face visible to the laptop camera. "Here goes nothing." At a click of a button, she requests for her friends to do a video chat. "Well, there it goes. I just missed them. That's all. These guys have been video-chatting for a while now. I hope these guys would respond. Maybe this night will be fun."

An hour passes by, and two friends (out of the twenty that are present in the chat portal) are able to respond for a video-chat. They just sit and wait for others to come, while Lena eagerly anticipates for the rest to respond.

Her friends, Tyler (a gamer with messy raven hair) and Trish (an African-American girl/class president), willingly wait for the rest to arrive while they multitask doing their homework.

"When will the fun happen?" Lena grunts to herself. "Sure you guys are okay there?"

" _We're cool here, dude_ ," Tyler tells her from the other line.

" _Yeah, don't worry. I texted Avery to get everyone online_ ," Trish says. " _Still waiting for him to reply. They should be available. We have no homework._ "

"Well, that's…cool," Lena snickers. She then shows her pile of homework to them. "I have a whole bunch of them."

" _Yikes,_ " Tyler gasps.

" _Have you finished any of them?_ " Trish asks.

"Nah, it's just history," Lena replies. "I can answer them in a jiffy. It's just all recitation in class."

" _Maybe you can set this chat for Friday_ ," Trish convinces her, " _I mean not to be a killjoy. But you have homework. And you know me._ "

"I know Trish," Lena chillingly responds. But she gets kind of sentimental, "You know me. But I just missed you guys so much there in San Francisco. Just seeing from your posts…"

" _We're all good here, Lena. We missed you too. There's a lot of things I want to share here._ "

"Me too. There are pretty awesome things here in Royal Woods."

" _Speaking of which, what is it like there in Michigan?_ " Tyler asks.

"Oh it's cool here. Me and the family got well here."

" _And the school?_ " Trish asks.

"Well, you know, like any other school. Not much interesting though. Though there's the one guy who is one of the awesomest guys I ever met. He is really my long lost twin after…"

Abruptly, Trish tells, " _Hold on, Lena. Avery just texted. They said they are catching up on the last sale of toys. And they bought a whole surplus. I don't why it's a big deal but he told us to come with them. Tyler, you're getting this?_ "

" _He texted to me too. Should we?_ " Tyler responds from his line. " _I mean I'm in the middle of Fortnite here. Plus, Lena._ "

Trish then gasps, suddenly remembering Lena. "Oh, sorry about that, Lena. Avery just texted."

"No, it's fine. It's all good," she replies with a twitching beam on her face. "Maybe, you should go. I can set another chat on Friday."

" _Are you sure? 'Cause we could chat for the rest of the night,_ " Trish replies.

" _Me too,_ " Tyler agrees. " _Though I would lag out when I get to the dance stages._ "

"It's fine guys. Promise," Lena assures.

Even with that kind of assurance, Tyler and Trish are unsure if they should log out of Lena's group video-chat. But in the end, they do so.

"If you say so, Lena," Trish replies.

" _Yeah, but don't worry. By Friday, we'll show you the neat stuff we bought, and we can give it to you there,_ " Tyler says.

"It's fine, guys," Lena gleefully acknowledges. "Have fun."

" _We'll tell you all about it on Friday. I swear,_ " Trish promises, then greets her, " _Bye dude._ "

Just like that, Tyler and Trish log out from the chatting application, leaving Lena alone with none to chat with. It comes to a rotting conclusion that things do not necessarily go her way. Also, in any attempt that may do to adjust, Lena would always be left in isolation from the rest of the world. At least that is what she thinks.

"This is bogus. Guess it's just me and me now," she grunts to herself.

Melancholy wraps around her now, and a little self-pity thrown in the mix. She keeps contemplating that she is bad at making friends and keeping friends. It is no wonder she always relies on her twin brother Lyndon for support.

He immediately comes to mind when Lena looks at a picture frame that features her and Lyndon when they were 4-years-old trying to ride a skateboard. But they fell down from the board and laugh it off. She recalls that moment. It happened during a day at the park with her dad and her twin brother. After that, she never held a skateboard. Though, Lyndon continued.

She just breathes out a sigh, reminiscing that lovely moment with her twin. But then, having thought of a skateboard gives her an idea for the next day.

* * *

Cue to Royal Woods Elementary, Lincoln and Clyde are unloading their bags in their lockers. Lincoln closes his locker when Lena appears in front of him.

"Lincoln!" she greets him, surprising him.

"Lena, it's you," Lincoln says as he catches his breath from the total surprise. "Don't scare me like that like Lucy."

"Sorry about that," she utters.

"Hey Lena!" Clyde greets her.

"Hey!" she greets him back. "Say, are there any toy stores out here?"

"Toy stores?" Lincoln then tries to recall the last he saw a toy store nearby or if he have been to a toy store before. "Not sure exactly."

"So, where did you buy your toys?"

"Mom and dad usually surprises us with toys that brought home," Lincoln answers. "And sometimes the toys we want are in the retail stores."

"Ohhh," Lena reacts.

"Why you ask?"

"Well, I kinda wanted to visit one for a while. There are a lot of toy stores I visited in Cisco. They were kind of cool. It was just me, Lara and Loui. We were hopping in every toy store. Though our dad told us not to visit the ones in the red part of the city. Not sure what he meant."

Already with her soliloquy, Lincoln raises an eyebrow to the person who contributed that thought to her thoughts.

But then, Clyde recalls something, "Hold up. I think I saw one toy store nearby the city limits."

"Good, let's visit then, after school!" she encourages the boys. "What do you say?"

"Well…" Lincoln is having second thoughts since he plans to do a marathon on _The Dream Boat_ after school.

"Please Lincoln! We rarely hang out lately. And I wanted to show you how awesome it is to visit a toy store. Please!" Lena pours out all her eagerness to convince him to accompany her.

After a moment to ponder, he finally answers, "Sure. Why not?"

"YES!" Lena squeals, then embraces her, "Thanks twin!"

"It's settled then," Clyde remarks.

* * *

After class, Lincoln, Lena (hanging on to the back of Lincoln's bike) and Clyde ride towards the toy store that Clyde claims he saw once. They arrive by the city limits to see a shopping complex that consists of a general merchandising store, a barbershop, a Thai restaurant, a pet store and a notary public office. But the primary outlet is a Toys Rush store. (Its logo is too reminiscent of the now defunct store Toys 'R' Us

"There it is," Clyde enunciates. "Toys Rush. The Greatest Toy Store in the World."

Lincoln and Lena immediately feel awestruck with its glorious signage and the scale of the vicinity. It almost looks like a friendly haven for children everywhere.

The three see the store still has the lights open, despite some personnel fixing up the exterior. A couple of clerks have just put down a sign above.

"Should we?" Lincoln asks.

But Lena excitedly gets down from his bike and rushes to the store. "Come on guys! What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Not wanting to miss a moment, Lincoln and Clyde park their bikes on the metal rack and follow up to Lena.

However, as the three enter from the automatically sliding door and to the brightly lit store, they stumble upon a startling revelation: multiple signs that says "Everything Must Go".

"What?! What's going on here?" Clyde gasps.

They then witness some store clerks packing several toys from the aisles in boxes and placing them back in the storage room.

"Should we go in?" Lincoln asks them.

But Lena continues to stare at those signs and wanders her eyes to the almost lifeless store with no people and only toys that are still stacked to the shelves. She walks along an aisle, with her thoughts running on the story why there are signs set up like that. It is almost troubling and dismal.

Lincoln calls her, "Lena, are you alright?"

She faces Lincoln and compose her face for him. "Yeah, sure. I am. I'm good. I'm good."

Abruptly, a female store clerk pleas to the three, "Hey kids, store closes in a minute! Get out of here now."

"But my friend is looking for a skateboard," Lincoln tells her.

"Come back tomorrow!" the lady insists. "We have shifts you know!"

Just like that, Lincoln, Lena and Clyde leave the store.

* * *

Not wanting their night to end in a sour note, the three stop by at a yogurt kiosk.

"Well, that's a bummer," Clyde contemplates, "Another toy store is closing. This time, in Royal Woods? This ain't good, buddy."

"I know. But there's nothing we can do," Lincoln says.

This makes Lena sigh louder, leaving her yogurt to say.

"We're sorry about what happened in the toy store," Lincoln tells her.

"It's fine. You did your best," Lena says. "Maybe I got too caught up since I had a lot of memories with my family in a toy store."

"If only you got all the time to cherish the last moments in there," Clyde adds.

And upon Clyde's words, Lena gets an idea. "Hmmmm…what if we spend our last moments there?"

"What?!" Lincoln gulps.


	11. Lena Returns Chapter 2

The very next day, Lincoln is clueless as to what idea Lena has come up with. He just walks to his locker and places his bag inside, going along with a totally normal day. But as he closes his locker, Lena appears from his right.

"LINCOLN!"

Lincoln gasps from being surprised. "Lena, don't do that ever again!"

"Ready for tonight?" At her eyes are kind of conniving and scheming, which Lincoln finds mysterious.

"Uhmmm what do you plan for tonight?"

Lena then shows him a map of the Toys Rush store that she pictured and printed in one night. "Let's seize the moment before it's gone. One night only."

"Wait, you don't mean?"

"Yep."

It strikes to him that Lena is planning to bust in the closing toy store. That plan troubles him for obvious reasons. "Lena, you can't be doing this."

"Lincoln…" She then drags him towards a nearby fire exit to secretly lay out her plans. "It's not busting in exactly. It's more like 'we go in, hide and wait until the store is closed, and then we infiltrate the store itself'. Then, we can wait it on till morning. And then, we walk away as if nothing happened."

"That's the thing, Lena."

Lena knows for sure that what they are doing is illegal. But she affirms that she will never do any act like that in the future. So, she pleads to Lincoln, "I just always thought you want to tag along, thinking it will be fun. Well, I get you." Dramatically, she walks away from him, hoping that her pleas would sway Lincoln. "So, see you around then. It's all by myself."

Feeling pity on her, and being pressured to himself, Lincoln says, "Okay. But we need to do this discretely and carefully. And I am not taking the blame if we get in trouble."

His last conditions kind of puts her off. Nevertheless, she is grateful that Lincoln decides to tag along. "Deal. Don't worry. We won't."

"Okay. But we need people, and I just got the guys for the occasion."

* * *

After school, Lincoln and Lena agree to meet their posse in Burpin' Burger. So, after her class, Lena travels by bike to the joint where she sees Lincoln, Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zack chatting to each other with fries.

Rusty was just talking about his experience in Niagara Falls. "And so, the boat was so near to the falls that we all get soaked. They're so gorgeous looking!"

Lena walks to them and greets, "Hey guys!"

"Hey Lena!" they respond.

"So, what plans do you want to share to us?" Zack asks.

"Yeah, we're willing to contribute some extra muscle for the occasion," Liam adds. "I mean I have a lot of muscles in my body."

"Right, but would you be willing some guts for the occasion?" Lena asks.

"So, what is it you need?" Liam responds.

Upon that signal, Lincoln looks around if there are other patrons who might overhear them. Gladly, the joint is kind of wide, and the customers are few. "Good. Let's keep our voices down."

Lena and the five boys then huddle up to the table and lays her plan. "Alright boys, we need extra hands. We are busting in Toys Rush."

"WHAT?!" Rusty, Liam and Zack gasp.

But Lincoln and Clyde shushes them.

Lena afterwards explains her scheme. "It's not technically busting. Look, we like shop near closing time. When the time is right, we stay in the bathrooms without anyone suspecting us. We hide in there until the coast is clear. And then, the toy store is ours for the night."

"What time does the store close?" Zack asks.

"7:00 PM. Best we arrive there around 6."

"Say why are you doing this?" Liam asks.

"Well, I have a soft spot for toy stores when I was young. So, I just want to share that experience with some friends. To let you feel what I felt, walking along the aisles full of toys. It's just so nostalgic. Plus guys, the store will be closed forever. So, last opportunity to seize a moment there."

"I kind of get your point," Rusty says. "I went to that store a couple of times before. And it was magical…when I was young. Right now, I'm playing Hamster Ping Pong." At his cue, he pulls out his phone and plays that particular flash game where the mechanics are to feed hamsters with the correct meals popping out. It is as colourful and mundane as it sounds.

"Rusty!" Liam chastises him.

"Sorry."

Clyde then comments, "Nice idea and all, but we have to consider that there are security camera around the place. So how can we be stealthy with that?"

"That's why we need to round up the team to get this done." She then lays her hand in the middle. "Now who's with me?"

Zack and Liam offer their right hands in the middle. Rusty follows, so does Clyde.

"Lincoln?" Clyde asks him, being the only person who has not shown his cooperation to the operation.

Lincoln still has hesitation over the plans for obvious reasons. He can almost see the look of dismay on Lena's face. But with a gulp to his throat, he spits to the palm of his hand and lands it with the rest. "Let's do this!"

* * *

The hour at sunset, last minute customers from Toys Rush are exiting the premises. To avoid suspicion, Lincoln with Lena on his back parks his bicycle on the law firm's parking space. They sprint towards a park sedan that is several paces to the entrance and rest on foliage pavements.

"Okay, gathered our stuff?" Lena asks.

Lincoln then pulls out the stuff for the operation. "Let's see: flashlights, glow sticks, gum, grappling hooks, Swiss army knife and flares." He then asks about the latter, "What are these for again?"

"Just for theatrics," Lena kids. "Of course for lighting."

"Okay, the rest should be here."

With that said, Rusty and Liam arrive with a duffel bag.

"Great job, guys! What do you have?"

"Let's see." Rusty then unzips the bag and shows them their food supplies. "We have marshmallows, hotdogs, marinated chicken wings and for concession, Swedish barnacle balls."

"What the heck are Swedish barnacle balls?" Lincoln asks.

"Dunno. I saw this randomly hanging in the cupboard. So I took it."

"Don't worry guys," Liam says. "There is Burger King inside. Though, I don't eat fast food."

Zack then arrives in the scene with two more companions. "Hey fellas! You need tag-alongs? 'Cause I brought some." It is Stella and Girl Jordan.

The boys (and Lena) freak out over the presence of two more girls for the scheme.

"STELLA! GIRL JORDAN! What are you doing here?" Lincoln gasps.

"Well, it's a long story," Stella nervously chuckles.

 _Flashback_

 _Zack is assigned to provide ropes for the plan. In the hardware store, he asks assistance from a willing sales clerk. But unintentionally, he comes across Stella._

 _Stella greets him, "Zack, never thought I would see you here in the hardware store."_

" _Yeah…uhmm…me too…uhmm Stella…uhmm…Stella," Zack stutters._

 _She then notices Zack hiding yards of rope behind him. "Zack, why are you hiding that? What's with the ropes?"_

" _Uhmmmm nothing," he denies._

" _Are you sure?"_

 _Unable to hold the truth any longer, Zack finally spills the beans to Stella. "Okay! Okay! Can't take it anymore! But you need to keep it a secret. Just the both of us, okay?" With that, he explains everything to Stella._

 _Stella initially is unable to accept that Zack and his company of friends are willing to go to that route. Nevertheless, she understands them and assists him in purchasing the rope and other power tools._

 _As they carry the load encased on a box to Zack's home, they accidentally drop it on the foot of Girl Jordan, who was coincidentally walking across their direction._

" _Hey! What's it with you guys?" Girl Jordan shrieks._

" _Sorry Girl Jordan!" Zack apologizes._

" _We didn't mean too," Stella agrees._

 _However, the contents of the box have littered on their spot, which arouses suspicion to Girl Jordan._

" _Wait, what's with the rope and the power drill? What are you up to, guys?" she asks suspiciously._

 _With no other choice, they tell her "the plan", to which she promised not to tell, if they let her tag along with them._

 _End of Flashback_

"So, that's what happened," Zack admits as he and Stella feel embarrassed.

"You do know what we're up to, guys?" Lincoln confronts them.

Girl Jordan then steps in her defence, "Watch it, Lincoln. As you know, I'm class president. And I have the definite authority to report this to the school. But I don't want to, because you're a good friend. So…?"

With no choice, Lincoln with a huff on his breath accepts Girl Jordan, "Okay, you can tag along."

Finally, Clyde's posse has arrived on a bike. However, as the kids spot them, they notice Clyde seemingly knocked out. Thus, his tag-along Haiku pedals the bike while loading Clyde in the middle. And his other tag-along Penelope struggles to hold him. They make it to the other's whereabouts.

Lincoln welcomes them, "Hey guys, what happened to Clyde?"

"He is undergoing the repercussions of nervous breakdown," Haiku monotonously confirms.

"He told us he was nervous to ask his dad of his activity tonight. So he tried to think of an excuse, but he got so nervous and there he is," Penelope explains in layman's terms.

"Oh," Rusty utters.

"So what are you girls here for?" Lincoln asks.

"Clyde asked me if I can lend my computer skills for the operation, so I came," Haiku says.

"Okay, good but how about you, Penelope?"

"I just like to be part of the group," she happily states, which kind of raise suspicions from the pact.

"Okay…" Lincoln utters awkwardly, but he gives the floor to Lena. "So, you all know what you signed up for. So here's Lena to give us the drill. Lena?"

One thing noticeable is that due to the number of kids present for the operation, she is unable to interact with any of them. Her insecurities get the best of her since she rarely knows some of them.

But as all eyes and ears are laid to her, Lena gets more nervous on leading the operation. Nevertheless, she overcomes it with a gulp to her throat. "Okay! Tonight, before this toy store closes forever, it is ours for the making. Let's do this!"


	12. Lena Returns Chapter 3

Before the imaginative 11-year-old lays her plans, she considers the logistics of the place.

Toys Rush operates from 10 AM to 7 PM. It currently has fifteen employees running the place; one is the store manager, the two are team leaders, nine are store employees, one is a security guard and two are maintenance cleaners.

After the toy store closes, the staff, excluding the third-party staff, gathers for a team huddle. Then, they disperse, leaving the store manager to shut the store with full-proof mechanical shutter doors and a 24/7 security camera system that is hidden in his office.

In addition, he shuts the power down from his office fuse box, leaving only the front entrance lights open. He ensures that the store proper and the storage surplus room are locked and secured, plus that the security system has been installed for the night. The locks for the store proper are possible to open if opened from the inside.

The security guard is on duty until his shift ends at 8:30 PM.

From that scale, it would take skilful heisting and silence to dodge through those challenges without anyone noticing.

* * *

Nevertheless, this is how Lena's plan goes:

An hour and a half before the toy store's closing, Lena, Lincoln, Stella and Girl Jordan visit the store, pretending to browse the toys on every shelf. The four split into two: Lena and Stella, and Lincoln and Girl Jordan. The former duo sneak in to the women's room in individual cubicles to wait for the staff to leave the building. Girl Jordan follows them to the women's room, while Lincoln, learning that the men's room is under maintenance, hides underneath the shelf where dollhouses are formerly displayed. He acts as the lookout within the store premises, communicating about the whereabouts of the staff via cellphone.

Eventually, the clocks hits at 7:35 PM. When the store manager shuts the store using mechanical roller shutter doors, Liam and Haiku sneak onto the right side walls of the toy store to get to the storage box. Haiku hacks into the network that supplants the biometrics for the staffer door, while Liam is on the lookout. She also learns that the power can be restored through the manager's office.

After the goth successfully unlocks the biometrics door, Penelope distracts the security guard, prompting Rusty and Zack to carry a still unconscious Clyde and their camping stuff to the staff's room. They then shut the door quietly, only causing a little bang to the biometrics door.

From the inside, Lena, Stella and Girl Jordan step out from the women's room and light up their phones to check if the coast is clear within the store. Going through with the plan, Lena fetches Lincoln to find the store manager's office, Stella unlocks the door to the storage to give Rusty and Zack access and Girl Jordan unlocks the door from Liam and Haiku's whereabouts.

After a hefty search, tiptoeing on the floor and trying not to make a sound, Lena and Lincoln locate the store manager's hidden office, located behind a _My Little Pony_ display. Lincoln finds the main power switch, prompting the team to wait for Penelope's cue to power the place again.

Meanwhile, Lena leads Haiku to the room to hack into the security cams and digitally manipulate the footages of the current night to avoid being spotted.

But even as the clocks strikes at 8:30 PM, the guard is busy chatting with Penelope.

Lincoln keeps texting the happy-go-lucky girl to keep it up, but she ends up distracted on chatting with the guard.

"What's taking her so long?" Lena asks Lincoln.

"I don't know," he replies. "Can somebody look out for her?"

Zack and Liam volunteer for the task. They sneak out through the right side door and tiptoe to spy on the two, still chatting and even laughing.

Liam texts to Lincoln: " _Penelope still talking w/ guard. What should we do?_ "

"I think I know how," Zack utters, then marches to the scene.

"Zack, what are you doing?" Liam asks him. "Fall back, soldier. Fall back!" Not wanting for the whole operation to get botched, Liam hides from him as Zack confidently marches to the guard.

"Excuse me sir, but I believe you may have mistaken! But this girl is not my girlfriend!"

"What in Pythagoras' theorem are you talking about?" the Terry Crews-like guard asks.

"Zack, what are you doing?" Penelope asks to herself.

"I am telling you that she's…not…my…girlfriend." Zack's speech pattern is almost akin to Christopher Walken. "If you have to ask her."

"Do you know this dude?" the guard asks Penelope.

"Uhmmm he is my classmate," she answers unsurely. "We belong to the same group project."

"That is right! And I want to tell that she is not my GIRLFRIEND!"

The guys from the inside watch helplessly from the holes of the shutter door as Zack continues his distraction act.

"Is Zack being crazy or something?" Girl Jordan asks.

"I think that's the plan," Lincoln says.

But back to Zack, he keeps going with his routine, as a disoriented Penelope grows concern. "Okay Zack, I think you need a break. Or fresh air. Or tacos. Something away from here." She then drags him away from the guard.

"You sure you're gonna take care of your friend there?" the guard asks.

"Yes sir, guard, sir," Penelope answers. "I will take care of my not boyfriend, which he is not my boyfriend. Thanks anyway for directions to the skating rink!" With that, she pushes a still soliloquizing Zack away from his sight.

That is when Zack pulls Penelope to the bushes and shuts her mouth. "Shhh…we have to wait for the guard to clear out."

"Was that all an act?"

"Well, yahh."

"Why do you have to choose the 'she's not my girlfriend' scenario?"

"What? That's what popped into my mind first. Not good at improvising, you know."

After that parade, the guard checks out his watch to see it has struck at 8:54 PM. "Oh dang it! Exceeded shift! Well, time to hit it home for football!" Before he leaves his post, he ensures that the doors are secured and that the barricades are safe. "That would do." Ceremoniously, he leaves the premises through his scooter, whistling along the way.

That signals for Zack and Penelope to sneak back to the store, via the right side door, which Liam unlocks for them. And it prompts for Haiku to restore the power for the lights. (Though, she lets the front entrance lights remain closed.)

Each of the kids emerges from their place of hiding. And once they gathered together, the group remains at awe to see the remaining toys on their aisles. It is one of the last moments they would seize on seeing toys still on their shelves.

"This is better than I dreamed it would be," Lena expresses.

Not wanting to ruin the fun but Clyde eventually wakes up from passing out. "What happened?"

"Oh, Clyde, my man, you're awake!" Liam greets him.

"Just in time to see this!" Zack follows.

"Are we in the toy store?" he asks.

"We surely are!" Rusty answers.

"Oh, good. I thought we didn't," Clyde utters. "So what do we do know?"

"Uhmm Lena, what's the next part of the plan?" Lincoln asks.

When he asks that, the kids face the commander of the whole operation for an answer.

Lena then thinks about what they could possibly do in the store premises. They are just infinite things to do inside with the toys and the knickknacks around them. With that, she smiles at them.

* * *

Cue "We Are Not Alone" by Karla DeVito from _The Breakfast Club_ , and the kids go wild around the store, using the bikes to wander around. If they would imagine the whole stint, it would look like a montage.

Each of them does his or her stuff before going to one another: Clyde tries a pogo stick that is just lying on the floor, Girl Jordan lands on a pile of unopened _My Little Pony_ boxes and pretends to make a snow angel, Haiku forms her own diorama of a funeral with the help of pulled-out doll heads and _Monster High_ sets, Liam and Zack test the kiddie ATVs, Lincoln searches for Ace Savvy toys, Penelope checks out the remaining dollhouses on the shelves, Rusty rummages to the _Star Wars_ toys and costumes, and Stella tests the sports equipment.

Lena meanwhile searches the shelves for any sign of a skateboard. She searches from the top to below, but finds no sign of one. Even with the presence of bikes and ATVs, there are no skateboards around the store.

Lincoln notices this while he plays with the remaining Ace Savvy action figures. "Still looking for your skateboard?"

"Yes Link," Lena replies. "Can you help me with this?"

"Uhmm sure." He then helps Lena search from the sports section of the store. After rummaging through boxes and plastic litter, they find none. "None. Sorry about that, Lena."

"It's okay," Lena despondently replies.

"Well, we can at least search in the storage room."

Though hope seems lost, a glimmer of one comes in the form of Rusty, dressed as Kylo Ren. He even tries to imitate Adam Driver's voice, "Lena, is this what you seek?" He then offers her a _Star Wars_ -themed skateboard, which he thinks she might consider. "I know it has still Star Wars insignia, but it's still a board."

"I think it's good, Rusty," Lena replies.

This makes Rusty feel proud of himself.

* * *

Later on, it becomes madness. Lena challenges Rusty in a lightsaber duel. Lincoln and Haiku crash Girl Jordan's _My Little Pony_ playset. Penelope pranks Liam and Zack by throwing toy insects at them. And Zack battles Stella in a game of tennis. It is all-out fun in the toy store.

While it becomes fun for the kids, a dark figure lurking watches from the outside.


	13. Lena Returns Chapter 4

After a fun-filled evening in the toy store, the group settles at the center aisle for the night. The kids lay down their sleeping bags and set their belongings. Rusty even brings his LED bonfire lantern, just for show and to give an aura for camping.

"Now this is like camping in the woods," he says.

"Only there's no real bonfire, and we still have marshmallows," Zack adds.

"No problem." Rusty then brings out his propane blowtorch and burns Zack's marshmallow. The latter then takes over in burning marshmallows.

Immediately, Lincoln warns him, "Not too much, Rusty. The fire alarm."

"Oh, right. Got it."

On the occasion, Clyde shows an abandoned ukulele to the group. "Hey guys, check what I found. I guess this means for a camping jam!" With that, he strums the first beat to the "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. Lincoln, Rusty, Liam and Girl Jordan join him. Penelope and Haiku, meanwhile, are playing _Rick and Morty_ -themed Monopoly.

All the while, Lena and Stella stay behind from the crowd and watch them from afar.

"It's kind of cool those guys have a bond to each other," Lena surmises. "Kinda cool Lincoln knows a lot of friends to rely on."

"Well, he is a friend to rely on," Stella agrees. "I may not know him that much, to a deeper extent, but from what we bonded over, he is a great guy."

This is the point where Lena wants to push the boundaries of her own inner circle. Though her throat runs dry thinking about it, she musters the courage to "engage". "So…how did you met Lincoln?"

"On a bus on the way to school," Stella shares. "It was a good first meeting. I was kind of new in Royal Woods at that time. So, he approached me and he sat beside me. I knew he was kind of nervous to engage with newbies in town. So I gave him a chance. And we became friends. I also became friends with Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zack, and we're buddies ever since."

"Is that so?" Lena utters nervously. "Kinda nice that you make a friend, and make friends with his friends. And so on and so forth."

Stella could only give a chuckle, sensing Lena's unease. "Yeah. That's the deal."

Ultimately, the 11-year-old heroine of this fiction shares her story, "I don't have much friends like you guys here."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, back when we were still in San Francisco, I was a bit of a loner. I didn't mind friends or anything. I kind of wanted to be alone. But some kids took it as mockery. Saying things like 'Lena has no friends!' Like that…"

"Oh, so you just moved in Royal Woods too?"

"That's right. It was not fun settling in to somewhere new, after the aftermath back home. It's a long story. But at least Lincoln came at our door and made us feel welcomed in this city, including me. And he led me to you, guys."

"Awww. Thank you."

Lena lends a smile to her to say "You're welcome". "Yeah. I was really kind of shy. I mean, yeah, it was the first time I met you. And I don't know how to make a good impression. And all of you seemed to have a bond that I might feel left behind."

"Hey, dude, it's okay. When I first got here, I feel left behind as well. I mean sure, it's a first. But I feel that I'm more comfortable by myself than with a company of friends. That is until I met Lincoln. And the rest was history."

"So, you had a history with Lincoln?"

"What?! No! Not that history. Just saying that it went on from there. Friendships. Fun times at Royal Woods. It was all good."

"Yeah, I could see. I think Lincoln is my only friend here. Ronnie Anne also counts, but she's in the big city now. Perhaps reenacting _West Side Story_."

Stella chuckles at her quipping.

"I don't know. I just have to associate stuff around with things I know. Like cupcakes. I could just recall that Lonely Island song. _I love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling_ , like that."

"I see." Stella gets the gist of Lena's comprehension.

"People think that's weird. No wonder I don't have friends."

"Perhaps, we could be friends." Stella lends her hands to Lena.

Lena is nearly speechless at this offer for friendship. She keeps thinking that she needs to do a lot to earn a genuine friendship. But all of that overthinking is holding her back, as well as some self-esteem issues that grew upon her. Thus, this offer of friendship is something special for her.

"What do you say?"

With full confidence, Lena shakes her hand with Stella. "Thanks. Thank you so much Stella!"

Stella in turn gives her first hug to Lena. She can hear the joy coming from her new friend. "It's cool, dude. It's cool." After that embrace, she tells her, "Hey, why don't we join with the rest of the guys?"

"Sure."

The two stumble upon the group jamming to "Barbara Ann" by The Beach Boys, in the style of Minionese.

"Hey guys, what's up here?" Stella asks.

"Oh, just singing along for the night," Clyde says. "I wanted to give that summer camp vibe." He then inhales deeply to emphasize his point. "The only thing missing is the wilderness."

"Hey Lena, had fun with your skateboard?" Lincoln asks.

"It was great. I just need ramps in this place so I can do some tricks," Lena answers.

"You can do skateboard tricks?" Rusty excitedly asks.

"Maybe so. They're still lodged in my mind."

Liam encourages them, "What you waiting for, gals? Join us. Zack has made toasted marshmallows."

Zack then offers them sticks with burned marshmallows to feast. Girl Jordan then proposes a toast with her mug of hot cocoa, "Alright guys, just want to give this moment to Lena, who bravely broke the norm and let us feel once again what it is like being a kid. A small, innocent kid in a toy story. So cheers to Lena!"

"CHEERS!"

After that, Rusty encourages her, "So, Lena, anything you like to say?"

"Speech!" Penelope suggests.

Then the group chants with her, "Speech! Speech! Speech!" while Lincoln winks at her for the success that she attained.

With that, Lena gives in. "Okay, okay. First of all, I don't know much of you guys, personally. But because of this, it feels like I want to be friends with all of you, especially you Haiku."

The group applauds her for that. Haiku furtively gives her a grin.

"Now all of these would not be possible if it weren't for my twin, my best friend, Lincoln Loud, for supporting me all the way. Though you were skeptic, you still supported me. So, cheers to Lincoln!"

"TO LINCOLN!" Then they chug their own mugs of cocoa.

After that, Zack asks, "So what now?"

That has the group thinking, to which Lincoln suggests, "Maybe pack the leftover toys around here and pack for the morning?"

They seemingly agree.

Suddenly, Clyde bursts in excitement, "LET'S JAM!"

And with that, the group resumes jamming to "Barbara Ann".

Though, Zack abruptly tells them, "Hey guys, I'll just be in the bathroom. See you later." Assuming that the group heard him, he runs off to squeeze the lemon.

However, on his way, he hears a police siren from outside. His body freezes, prompting him to dive to the floor and peek from the metal barricade holes.

As it turns out, it is exactly as he heard it: a police cruiser with its lights on is parked on the front of the Toys Rush store. Two cops get down from the car and interrogate the dark figure that secretly spied on them. The figure turns out to be a bum who senses the commotion inside.

"Oh no!" Zack gasps.

Immediately, he alerts Lincoln about this. But the latter cannot hear him, due to the jamming. Thus, Zack drags his friend as quietly as possible and shows the threat looming them.

Seeing the siren lights, Lincoln and Zack dive to the floor to look out on the happenings.

They overhear one of the officers asking the bum, " _Are you sure you heard noises in there?_ "

" _Yes, there were talking and laughing. And I saw lights opened_ ," the bum explains.

" _Really?_ " the other cop replies. " _Look, I know you have alerted us many robberies. And we are able to stop them. But you have to ease it down._ "

" _But check it out yourself, officer!_ "

"Fine."

This signals for Lincoln to quietly run to the rest and alert them. "Guys, cops. COPS."

"Cops?!" Girl Jordan shrieks, "Oh no, this can't be! This can't be happening!"

"Snap out of it, woman," Penelope calms her down.

"Cover the stuff. Turn of the lights!"

With that, Rusty shuts off his LED lantern, Lena and Stella obtain a tarpaulin cover and conceal their stuff, and the rest hide their stuff under it. Haiku and Liam sneak back to the security room to check on the cops. The rest meanwhile quickly hide behind on the entrance glass where the barricade conceals them.

Lincoln peeks outside to see one cop lighting his flashlight towards the small holes on the metal door. He mouths to the others, "Keep quiet."

The others respond with covering their mouths and holding their breaths. Girl Jordan is almost freaking out at this setup. But Penelope holds her down to avoid her making noise. Rusty and Zack grasp their mouths harder enough for them not to speak. And Lena sweats profusely.

Lincoln gestures to Lena, " _Are you okay?_ "

She replies in sign language, " _No. I got you guys in trouble._ "

" _Doesn't matter now,_ " he replies.

The cop taps the metal barricade for others to respond. But the kids keep it still. With no sign on sight, the gentle officer returns to the cruiser.

"Phew…" they all sigh.

It is a relief that they lean their bodies relaxingly, including Zack, who slams his back to a stack of unsold Tickle-Me Elmo dolls.

The others gasp at this sight. Lincoln drags Zack to him to avoid detection. However, one doll at the very top of the stack suddenly loses balance and, slowly but surely, at peace with the rest, falls to one more loose stack of dolls. And BANNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG.

Just as the Elmos laugh, the cops hear and run back to the door. "Okay, whoever is in there, you have a right to remain silent! Step out of the store! Hands in the air, and we'll take care of everything!"

The group easily panics from this confrontation. Now, they are in big trouble at little Lena.


	14. Lena Returns Chapter 5

The gang realize that they are at a point of no return.

The cops tap the metal enclosure to intimidate the supposed criminals inside the Toys Rush store. "Police! Get out of the store, and we'll barge in arrest you!"

"What do we do now?" Liam whispers to the rest.

The toy is still making noise, but Zack and Penelope pull out the batteries.

Lincoln tries to formulate an escape plan with Lena, but she is nowhere to be spotted. "Lena? Where the heck is Lena?"

The guys shrug their shoulders, prompting Lincoln to quietly find Lena from the premises.

He discovers, however, that the security room is still operational. Thus, he checks the room to see Lena giving instructions to Haiku.

"What's going on here?" Lincoln interrupts.

"Shhh! We're trying to find a way out," Lena tells Lincoln.

Along the way, Haiku checks every security camera for possible escape routes that avoid detection from the police. However, the major disadvantage is that the since the store is surrounded by parking space, all sides are unavoidable. "That's all the cameras we have. Regrets, my friend, is the antidote for the burden."

"Okay…" Lincoln utters.

"We need to get you guys outta here," Lena says.

"But how?"

Lena then thinks inquisitively of a plan that involves distractions and sacrifice. She calls on the gang to relay it to them, "Guys, I have an idea! But we need to act fast!"

* * *

Later on, five more cops join the fray and prepare their pistols for a possible standoff in front of a toy store. (See the absurdity there?)

The head cop, a Jerry Seinfeld lookalike down to the voice, speaks to the kids via megaphone, "Okay, to those inside the toy store, I don't care what you are doing inside, if either peeing or playing micro machines. But you are trespassing! Step out of the store and put your hands in the air like you just don't care!"

The cops react awkwardly to the cop's sudden unprofessionalism.

"What?" He then resumes to taunting them. "Okay, we leave you no harm. My men are entering the store. Put all your hands in the air!"

Sure enough, two tough cops try to barge in through the left-side door. But right behind it, Penelope and Zack prepare improvised smoke bombs to trap the cops, using toy baby powder and whoopee cushions. Liam and Rusty also prepare for the barging of the caps with remote-controlled cars. And Stella deploys her own trap using jackstones and rubber balls.

Meanwhile, as part of Lena's plan, Clyde and Girl Jordan search around the store for accessible drains to escape. Lincoln then checks on the cops outside and Lena supervises Haiku on checking on the security footage.

With brute force and a blowtorch, the cops barge in to the store. "Police! Anyone in here! Surrender or we'll shoot!"

At that cue, Zack slingshots a cushion towards the eye of one cop.

"MY EYES!" His eyes being struck causes him to trip over the other cop towards the floor full of jackstones. Their guns are dropped in the process. This allows Penelope and Zack to cover the area with thick powder, and cues for Liam to blind their eyes with the toy car's lights. Stella then slowly slides their guns away.

"Dang it! They are blinding us with toys!" the other cop says.

"Not too late!" the one cop enforces. "We're police! You have the right to surrender now!"

"Wait, where are our guns?"

Just as the other cop discovers their artillery missing, Liam, Rusty, Stella and Zack fire nerf darts and pinballs to the cops, pushing them away to the door. The cops cannot recognize their "attackers", thanks to the thick toy powder that serves as a flashbang. Sooner, they retreat outside to uncover their eyes. But before they do so, a scary masked figure appears to them, sending them fleeing back to their cruisers. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The gang then closes back the door and locks it.

"What's with you, men?!" the Seinfeld cop asks.

"They attacked us inside!" the one cop reports in panic mode. "Four of them!"

"They attacked you with talcum powder?"

"No! We had them! But they got our guns! And they outnumber us!" the other cop whines about it.

"Okay…they've gone too far, whoever they are. SEND BACKUP!"

"Roger, sir!"

* * *

Lincoln overhears this and alerts Lena via toy walkie-talkie, " _Matt to Nora! Matt to Nora! Code red brigade! Over!_ "

" _Roger that, Matt!_ " Lena responds. She then messages to Clyde, " _Nora to Danny, do you read me? Over!_ "

" _Danny to Nora here. Over!_ " Clyde responds. " _Hang on, why you assign me as Danny?_ "

" _Long story. How are you and Girl Jordan?_ "

" _A little preoccupied. So far, we found four drains. And they are like fixed. We can't turn them._ "

" _Just keep going! And tell us right away if you found any. Over and out!_ " Lena then walks back to the scene where the gang set traps on. "So guys, how are you we doing?"

"Great!" they exclaim.

"You should have seen their faces, Lena. They were scared helplessly!" Liam details.

"Yeah, and the smoke bombs go 'Blow!' and our guns go 'Bang!' It was like a warzone but we sure showed them!" Zack adds to the story.

"Leave that to me for firing this nerf gun like a machine gun," Rusty brags.

"Actually, I was the one who fired that one like a machine gun," Liam insists. Then the boys argue.

Lena then confronts Stella. "They seemed fired up…"

"Tell me about it," Stella replies. "It was kind of scary when they brought guns to the scene. But we showed those cops."

"Speaking of guns, where are they?"

Stella then points Lena to the rifles that she dragged to the corner, using a toy golf club.

"Oh boy, they sure look scary," Lena says. "I really don't like guns in general."

"Yeah. Let's just hope the cops won't fire at us with more."

"Okay, let's just leave them as it is and never have it covered with finger prints."

Suddenly, Lincoln contacts Lena via radio, " _Matt to Nora! Hate to add to the tension. But we got company!_ "

What Lincoln is referring to are new units being deployed and in position outside of the toy store. Five are in position with rifles. And five other cops move towards the left-side door again with batons and shields. This kind of police confrontation already frightens the gang in full extent.

Rusty, Liam and Zack witness this from the front with Lincoln. And Lena, Penelope and Stella are able to glance at the operation from the security camera monitors. The latter is utterly speechless at the actions she caused. "What have I done?"

The Seinfeld cop taunts them once more, "Okay, you, crooks from the inside, I have my men prepared to open fire and arrest you! That is plausible! Now, we'll give you five minutes to step out of the toy store and surrender! Or else, we'll open fire!"

However, the Dean Pelton lookalike owner of the store enters the scene from another police cruiser to intervene. "Wait! Wait! Don't shoot! Don't shoot down this precious store! Let me speak to him." He then grabs the megaphone from the head cop and speaks to the gang, "Look! We'' do anything! We'll give you a 25% discount to all the items in the store! Or free trips to the toilet without having to buy in our store! Just surrender please! Toys Rush is at stake!" The owner just sinks down, whimpering.

"Sheesh, and I thought made-from-China toys are cheap," Zack remarks.

Lena realizes the weight of the responsibility she has right now. That leaves her with no choice. Thus, she radios the gang, "Guys, move to the center aisle now! Over and out!"

At that signal, Lincoln, Rusty, Liam, Zack, Clyde, Girl Jordan, Penelope and Stella skitter to the rendezvous point. Lena insists to Haiku, who is momentarily occupied on fabricating the security footage with them, to move with the others.

"Haiku, move now!"

"It will need an extra five minutes to complete this footage," Haiku tells her.

"We don't have any more five minutes! Come on, Haiku! Go!"

With that, Haiku is persuaded to leave the security room. After she left, Lena takes the tapes with the doctored footage and smashes them to the floor. She then places the authentic tapes to be placed alongside the actual security footage.

Once the gang assembles, Lena races back to them. "Okay guys, I think this is our last stand. I'm so glad I met you all!"

"Wait, this is the end of us? We're going to die?!" Penelope panics. "I can't die! There are a lot of things I want to do in life!"

Girl Jordan then slaps her face to keep her sane. "Get a hold of yourself, girl! We are all in great panic now! Let's not add to it."

Lena asks Clyde, "Clyde, any sign?"

"Not really. But there's this drain that we all can fit in." Clyde then quickly leads them there. He and Girl Jordan try to unscrew the bolts but they are only half-inch successful.

"This could do! Pull!"

At her signal, the kids try to pull the drainage cover out of the drain. However, at the same time, the police attempt to barge in again from the left-side door.

"We'll not make it!" Lincoln shrieks.

"I got this!" Rusty yelps, showing a crowbar he found.

"Wait, Rusty! We can use this!"

"Against the police!"

After that failing gesture, Lincoln uses the crowbar to help lift the drain lid out.

But that is not enough to stop the cops, who finally barge in to the store.

"That does it!" Lena grumbles. "You guys open the lid! I'll distract them!"

But Lincoln is hesitant for Lena on doing so. "Lena, you can't. You're gonna risk your life!"

"Lincoln, I made you all barge in the store, so I can get a skateboard. It's time I pay the price!" Lena then retrieves her skateboard, a nerf gun, a slingshot, a hockey mask and a pack of cushions stuffed with toy powder to prepare to take down the cops.

"Lena…" Lincoln tries to stop her.

But Lena kisses her best friend on the lips, insisting that she handles them. "I got this. This is me. Go Lincoln!" And with that, Lena stealthily skates to the shadowy part of the store to maneuver around the SWAT team.

"Lena…"

Just at the right moment, the gang opens up the drain opening, each hop inside: Girl Jordan, Penelope, Zack, Liam, Rusty, Haiku and Clyde. But Lincoln stands there, worried about Lena.

"Lincoln, come on!" Clyde insists.

"I can't How about Lena?" Lincoln replies worrisomely.

They suddenly hear the sound of echoing explosions and tear gas firing.

Clyde is worried to. But seeing Lena's gallantry, he says, "Lincoln, sometimes a little warrior must confront her big problems."

After minutes of hesitation, Lincoln reluctantly jumps to the drainage with others. They soon run away to the pipeline, as the opening closes above them.

"LENA!"


	15. Lena Returns Chapter 6

After sealing her friends out of the store, Lena leaps above the approaching cops and blasts them with talcum powder bombs. She jumps from one toy shelf after another until she makes a safe landing by the side.

However, more S.W.A.T. officers emerge to the area. "We got 'em!"

But Lena, in a quick reaction to self-defense, takes a flying kick to the officer, knocking him out, as well as the cops behind him like domino pieces. She takes a nearby hockey stick and pole vaults herself out of the incoming line of cops. But along the way, she tries to find another drain to escape from; but the number of cops and the talcum powder being dispersed to the air make it harder for her to find one.

In a last resort, she smashes the fire alarm and sounds it off, along with the sprinkler system.

The sequence of the operation causes for the head S.W.A.T. officer to contact the main cop outside, "Sir, we're getting cornered in the store! How should we move?"

"Fire up the rifles," the main cop responds gruffly, "Don't fire unless you find the target."

"Copy that, sir!" The head officer then shouts to his unit, "Charlie, rifles ready!"

With that, the S.W.A.T. lights up their lasers, in pursuit of the supposed suspect.

Seeing this, Lena tries to formulate a plan. She browses through the store surroundings for possible escape routes, only coming down to the door entering the storage room. As she previously learned, that storage room is locked from the inside. In additional matters for her escape route, the cops below have occupied every aisle. But she makes a leap of faith.

In one slide from her skateboard, she leaps, jumping from one shelf after another. But in the process, the heavy-built shelf gets knocked down like pieces of dominos, trapping the cops below. Lena then precisely pole vaults her way out using the hockey stick, which propels her to effectively open the storage room door, but knocking her down in the process. But, it is less painful this time.

"Yes! Escaped!" she hollers in victory.

However, another S.W.A.T. team emerges from the darkness and puts her on gunpoint.

With no choice, Lena raises her arms in surrender. "Oops."

The cops then cuff her and take her to the police cruiser out of a mob of onlookers. The operation has been accomplished.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the quiet Lark residence, the family settles down for the night. "Larks, bedtime! Leah, Lani, you two better prepare your jammies!" the family patriarch, Craig Lark, tells his kids.

The 2nd oldest sister Lacy is just flipping through the TV channels after her animal kingdom marathon has just finished.

"That's new, Lacy on the TV," Lara, the 3rd oldest and the chilliest sister, reacts.

"I was just checking for interesting material in the TV," Lacy replies.

"But you said TV is junk."

"Yes I know." Lacy then ends up in a television program showing microscopic view of prokaryotes. "Ooh, this looks promising."

However, the program immediately switches to the breaking news: "We interrupt your program to bring this BREAKING NEWS: a recent police confrontation inside a toy store has been accomplished when the suspect is caught left-handed. The suspect has been identified as Lena Lark, 11 years-old and a recent resident in Royal Woods. Investigation will push through after the incident. And sources have yet to determine Lark's actual intention for breaking and entering the toy store. If charged, Lena Lark would face 3 to 5 years in a juvenile detention center. And that is the breaking news for the hour."

Add to the breaking news is Lena being escorted to the police cruiser, as she is bombarded by the press and some snotty passersby.

Needless to say but Lacy and Lara are totally shocked.

But Lara sooner takes it chillingly, "Well, who knew that Lena had that kind of a wild side?" This is much to Lacy's chagrin.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang reach the nearest manhole and break out of the sewage pipeline. Rusty, Zack, Penelope, Girl Jordan, Liam, Haiku, Stella, Clyde and finally Lincoln emerge to daylight (or nightlight for this matter) safety.

"Oh, whole world! Nice to finally feel you!" Rusty expresses as he emerges first.

"Maybe you could stop overreacting, Rusty," Zack says.

"What? It's like it takes forever to get out of the sewers," Rusty justifies.

As they all get out of the manhole, a panicky Girl Jordan suggests to them, "Okay, this is obviously a bad night. I say we chill ourselves first at my house. I will tell mom that we just went to the park to hunt fireflies for study. And then stay for the night until we agree that none of this ever happened."

"Okay, you've gone hysterical, there Girl Jordan," Zack reacts.

"How is going to the park at night a good excuse?" Stella questions her.

"Worked for me; it doesn't degrade my dignity," Haiku adds.

"Well, how do we explain this to our folks?!" Girl Jordan

But Lincoln intervenes. "GUYS! Look, tonight happened. Okay? If you want to blame Lena for everything, it's fine. But we also agreed to be part of this! Yet, Lena back there sacrificed herself for us! She's willing to take the fall. Are we just gonna let her be empowered by the police?"

"Okay, I'm good." Clyde then comes to Lincoln's defense after breathing from a paper bag. "Lincoln's right. We agreed to this. We let her do this. We have to be there for her. If she let us escape, we have to return the favor."

"By surrendering ourselves to the police?" Rusty asks.

"Ahhhh…" Clyde immediately sees the irony of what he just professed. He just pauses and never finishes his statement.

"Seems legit," Girl Jordan reacts.

Penelope shares her thoughts, "Ooh! I wanted to experience what it feels like staying at jail. Though, not forever. Then…never mind."

The group then contemplates about their situation, just as their police cars pass by. They spot the caravan to see Lena arrested to one of the cruisers that pass by. They are quickly stunned at this revelation, even though they know it is all Lena's doing.

"Poor Lena," Stella expresses her gripes. "So brave of her to take the fall for us. I wish there's something we could do."

This gives Lincoln the determination to stand up for her. With that, he rallies the gang to go to the police station and come to Lena's defense.

* * *

On the other hand, Lena is escorted to her temporary jail cell by two police officers.

The police chief, a Danny DeVito lookalike, encounters her. "So, you little brat thinks you can barge in someone's property and what? Steal money? Vandalize the store? Or burn the place down for what? Revenge?!"

But Lena keeps herself mum in the proceedings.

"Who is with you? Your street gang? Are they part of this?!" he keeps interrogating her. Yet, even his gruff attitude does not sway Lena to speak. "Look girlie, it's either we sentence you to a juvenile asylum for so long. Or…stay in this cell for a year. We've arrested teenage snitches like you. And you might be the sneakiest of them all." He then points his baton at her in full intimidation. "Who is with you?!"

"LET HER GO!"

The chief wonders who could be shouting that to him. He looks behind to see the entire gang coming to her defense.

"Guys, what are you doing here?!" Lena asks them.

The chief then asks one of officer. "Officer, who are these pipsqueaks?"

"They just told me that they want to 'see their friend' after being arrested," the officer says.

The chief afterwards asks Lena, "You know these kids?"

"They are just friends at class. They have nothing to do with this," Lena defends them.

Suddenly, another officer appears with evidence at hand from the crime scene. "Sir, wait, we found a duffel bag in the store. It says it belongs to 'Rusty Spokes'?"

"Any of you named Roasty Sparks?" the chief interrogates.

The kids nod 'No' in immediate nervousness. But Rusty is secretly annoyed at the chief's mispronunciation of his name.

The officer then asks, "Then explain this picture?" He shows them a recent photo of Rusty, attached to the name tag of his duffel bag.

Right then, the gang is caught as official accomplices to Lena, much to their displeasure to Rusty, who only utters a nervous chuckle.

* * *

Afterwards, all nine of them are squeezed in the jail cell for the night with a stunned Lena. Guilt has fallen to their arms as they feel ashamed of their actions.

"At least it's not the worst cellar I've been to," Haiku side-comments, much to Penelope's bewilderment. "Too soon?"

Silence falls at the moment.

That is until Lena speaks to them. "I don't get it, guys. I told you to escape, and I will take the fall for you. Why did you come back for me?"

Lincoln answers in their behalf, "'Cause we don't want to let our friend suffer the fall on her own."

"Yeah, we're part of this too, even though that seems hard to accept," Clyde adds, "So, it's fair we take the sentence as well." He then goes back to panicking. "Gosh, my folks will kill me!"

"Yeah, we're here for you, Lena," Stella agrees.

"Yeah, she's right," Liam joins in.

"Me too, I agree," Rusty follows.

"No need to worry about us," Zack agrees.

"We're here for you now," Penelope follows.

"In this darkness with you," Haiku says.

Girl Jordan then gives up her restrained judgment and expresses her support, "As much as this troubles me, it doesn't matter. Sorry for judging you. But we're here. We'll do this together."

"That's right!" Penelope gleefully agrees. She begins to sings. "Everybody! _We're all in this together! Once we know that we are…we're all stars_ … _and_ uhmmm…"

"Hey! Stop singing!" the cop on guard tells them.

"Sorry," Penelope utters.

Lena then speaks out her gratitude, "Gee, thanks guys. A lot. I don't how I can return the favor."

"You don't have to," Lincoln assures.

The gang spends the night in jail.

* * *

The next morning, the cop in charge wakes them up, banging the jail bars. "Hey you kids, you have visitors!"

After waking up, they look to each other in nervousness, realizing that their families found out about their escapade.

The ten of them nervously walk to the visitors' booth, with Lena heading the pack. The police officer leads them to the cubicle, where the group finally sees the angry faces of their relatives and other people involved: Lori, Lynn Loud Sr., Rita Loud, Lily Loud, Craig Lark, Lacy Lark, Howard McBride, Mr. Spokes, Stella's parents, Liam's parents, Penelope's dad, Rusty's dad, Haiku's aunt, Girl Jordan's mom, Mrs. Johnson and the angry owner of the Toys Rush store.

Lena could only give a nervous grin to the folks. She is not hopeful of them slipping out of custody.

However, later as the gang is transferred to an interrogation room, a lady officer who now handles their case approaches them, "Okay scouts, filing your case, you are all charged with breaking-and-entering, attempted robbery and vandalism. As young as you are, those are signs of trouble."

The kids grumble at this.

"We're really sorry about it," Lincoln tells her.

She then continues speaking, "However, after thorough discussion with your folks and a little help I call deus ex machina, the charges are dropped."

The kids cannot believe that news. They just simply cheer. "YES!"

"Not so fast, kids. However, instead you are all sentenced for…"

* * *

Then, shift to two days later, the gang find themselves on a wall at the local penitentiary.

Rusty complains, "…600 hours of community service?! How long will that take?"

"May take us a month if we do it 24/7. But I think it will take long," Clyde answers as the gang assists in painting the walls of the city jail.

"Well, not as bad as staying inside jail though," Zack grumbles. He comes slightly annoyed in Penelope's humming.

"I much prefer the darkness," Haiku comments.

Each of the kids places his or her effort in painting the walls pink.

"You know, this kind of works out as a physical activity," Lincoln points out.

"Yeah, I think so too," Lena agrees. She then exchanges chuckles with her best friend.

Girl Jordan interrupts them. "Hey guys, let's say we hang out at Burpin' Burger after this. Would want you actually to drop by at my house. However, my folks still have a grudge on you. So, what do you say?"

"Are they still cool with you hanging out with me?" Lena asks.

"Never mind about them. They will soon forgive you," Girl Jordan replies.

"Same goes for me," Stella follows.

"And me," Clyde agrees.

"And us too," the rest joins along, gathering themselves around Lena.

"See Lena," Lincoln says. "We're here for you, good or bad."

The 11-year-old troublemaker finally feels the spirit of friendship around her. She could only muster a genuine smile to the readers. Lena then concludes to them, "Who knew a big trouble would lead a little happiness?"


End file.
